ANFL 2: The Generation of Change
by Simba593
Summary: Our heroes defeated Khan and are safely back home. Days of happiness are upon them. Souls becoming one, childhood friends reuniting, unexpected decisons, and evil is returning. It's a whole new generation of change. TiPo and OCxOC.
1. The Day Before D Day

**Chapter 1: The Day Before D-Day.**

**Hey guys! Like I said that was not the last of our heroes, this will be a continuation of 'A New Found Life'. If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to do so. It might help you understand this story a bit better, though it won't be totally confusing if you don't. **

**I've decided to take on more hours at work so I have more on my plate, therefore, less time to write. So, please don't get discouraged that I'm not getting my chapters updated at a good rate, I am still doing song-fics and writing chapters for this story.**

**This is 'ANFL 2: The Generation of Change', a continuation of 'A New Found Life' so it will be starting two weeks after the last story ended. There are some things that have changed in those two weeks, one of our heroes has a small problem. And a new, possibly old, villain shall show himself. But all will be revealed soon enough…**

* * *

It had been two weeks since Lord Khan's defeat at the 'Lion Eye' tomb and a few things had changed. The wedding of Po and Tigress had to be pushed back a week so that Po would be able to walk at his wedding. Tigress did end up having a severely strained back muscle, which required some resting time, much to the tiger's dismay. That week had passed faster than either had expected it would and that special day was tomorrow.

"Come on Po! We have to get some last minute partying to do!", said a hyper primate.

"Yeah! Who ever heard of a guy missing his own bachelor's party?", Mantis chimed in.

"Alright, alright I am coming!", said the panda getting up from the table. And at that moment Crane and Tigress walked into the dinning hall.

"Are we doing this or what?", Crane said as he stretched his wings and Tigress just shook her head.

"You too?", Tigress groaned and grabbed her forehead. "I thought you out of all people would stay back."

"You really think I would miss out on this? You changed, so why can't I?", questioned Crane, smirking the whole time.

"Never mind…just keep them out of trouble.", said Tigress, sitting down next to Viper at the table.

"Men will be men I suppose.", Viper said before taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah I'm marrying one of them.", Tigress laughed a bit as she shook her head.

"Tomorrow.", Viper added to Tigress' thought.

"Tomorrow…", Tigress said trailing off at the end, a warm smile spreading across her face.

"You going to be ok hun?", Po came up from behind Tigress and caressed her shoulders a bit.

Tigress rubbed her cheek on his paw to reassure him, "Yeah I'll be fine, I am more worried about you. Try not to drink to much, we have a big day tomorrow." Tigress turned around in her seat to see him better, still holding his paw.

"Not a problem.", Po said, leaning down, kissing her to make sure what he said stuck. She returned the kiss, smiling as she broke the kiss moments after.

"Now go and have some fun, handsome.", Tigress purred.

"As you wish beautiful.", Po whispered and kissed the top of her head. As this would be their last time seeing each other until the wedding tomorrow.

"Come on lovebird.", Mantis was practically dragging Po now.

"Ok, lets go. Bye hun.", And with that Po, Mantis, Monkey, and Crane all walked out of the door.

"Your very lucky you know, you are probably going to have THE best husband around.", Viper said finishing her tea.

Tigress didn't speak, only nodded as she looked where Po had just walked out the door. Silently wishing he would walk back thought it.

The guys walked out the door and into the courtyard of the Jade Palace. They had one more person to pick up to take with them.

"I'll go get him.", Po stated solemnly.

"Ok, but be quick. You guys are too slow for me.", Mantis crossed his 'thingies'.

Po shook his head as he walked down the path that lead behind the barracks, to the peach tree that Oogway had given him a peach from. He still remembered that saying Oogway had told him, it stuck like super glue. _'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That is why it's called the present.'_. 'Tomorrow is definitely a mystery', the panda thought.

* * *

Simba was sitting at the tree twirling the ring he had made out of the 'Lion Eye' gem he had found at the tomb were they fought Khan. Simba planned on giving it to Nixa, but plans usually never work out. One day, Simba and Po came back from a mission and Simba saw her holding the hand of another man. His heart crumbled from that point, as one could see why. When he asked her she said that he was away too much on his missions. Simba was dumbfounded, isn't that what Kung-Fu masters do? He hadn't talked nor seen her since then, thinking it was for the better. Still… he was hurting and it would take a good friend to raise his spirits, and thankfully he had a very good friend.

"You coming man?", Po said coming down the path.

"Yeah, I could use a drink or two.", Simba said still eyeing the ring.

"Still thinking of her?", asked Po, sitting down next to him.

"Nah… I pretty much over that. Just admiring my handy work.", Simba said passing the ring to Po.

"You did a very nice job on this you know. An heirloom that your family will cherish for generations.", Po said trying to cheer the German Shepherd up.

"Yep, too bad I don't have anyone to give it to.", Simba sighed.

"Don't think like that. You'll find someone soon, your twenty-two years old.", Po said slightly nudging him.

"You want to know something?", Simba looked over to Po.

"Sure I am game."

"I thought I had already met who I wanted to spend my life with.", Simba looked back at the ground.

"Nixa?"

"No, someone else. We were the best of friends back in my home town and we dated for one year when we were both sixteen. We did everything together, and we were nearing that time in our lives were we knew what we wanted to do. I wanted to find a Kung-Fu master to train under, and she was surprisingly content with that. I guess she loved the fact someone could protect her, that was one of the reasons she was so attracted to me. She was an excellent seamstress, all of the girls in the village would wear her designs. We had our life together, all we were waiting on was to get old enough." Simba let out a sight, like he had been holding onto that for a while.

"Well what happened?", Po had a caring look on his face.

"Life happened.", Simba paused for a moment, then continued. " One day, while we were still dating, another village attacked us. I helped the men of my village defend against the attackers, but the attack wasn't long. Like they came for something in particular. Afterwards I ran to find out if she was ok, but there was no trace of her family or her. It's like she dropped off the face of the earth. For six months I looked for her, living off the land in the wilderness, for weeks at a time hoping she would still be alive. I never found a thing, and began to accept the fact she was never coming back. It was like she never even existed. Two months later, I decided to follow my dream of Kung-Fu. That's when I got kicked out, right on my eighteenth birthday, the day I wanted to marry my best friend, my love. Four years of traveling later, here I am.", Simba finished his story and the two sat in silence for a minute.

**(A/N: I do believe I had stated in the first chapter of 'A New Found Life' (I will refer to it as ANFL now) that his years of traveling was around ten years. I decided this was too long a couple chapters into the story and changed it to four years. I am officially claiming it as four years now. If there is any questions on his timeline please ask. I promise keep things straight as possible. Remember ANFL was my first story ever.)**

"I am sorry that I asked.", Po said quietly.

"Don't be, you're the first person I ever told. I feel like I can breathe again.", said Simba as a smile spread across his face.

"Well alright… Oh crap! We better get going, Mantis is probably ripping his antennas out right about now.", Po chuckle along with Simba.

* * *

Shifu sat meditating before the Pool of Sacred Tears. Lately he had be come more like his master, Oogway. Much more calm about things, ever since he gained Inner Peace and his students had came home safe from the incident with Khan. Since then, Shifu had been able to learn to meditate on the peach wood staff, Oogway had carried with him. You could almost say that he was at a perfect balance. Almost. Shifu believed that it was because his daughter was getting married tomorrow. Every father worried about the day he would have to give his daughter away. But most of that worry washed away when he remember who he was giving her away to, the panda. Po. That name had changed the way the five and himself had thought and acted. Never had a name been so powerful, but he still worried. While he meditated a soft wind blew in suddenly, peach petals hitting his face. Shifu smiled slightly, Oogway was here.

_Oogway: It's been a while my friend._

"It has, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?", Shifu remained on his staff, eyes closed.

_Oogway: A warning. _

Shifu's ear twitched at his master's words. Had he heard right? "What kind of warning, Master?", asked Shifu, still calm.

_Oogway: Two evils will join. One will rise and free the other, but freedom will be his downfall._

"So a jailbreak? Should I increase guards at the higher security prisons?", Shifu waited respectfully for an answer.

_Oogway:*chuckles* You don't learn do you my friend? One often meets his destiny, on the road he takes to avoid it._

Shifu remember the time he tried to change his destiny, it didn't work out too well. "Right, so I will wait till the danger presents itself."

_Oogway:*chuckles* Old enough to be wise, and yet so much still to learn. Just be prepared._

Shifu thought of what it meant, he decided that he would keep his students on their training schedules and even add in a harder move or two. He would also be keeping his eyes and ears open for anything that would be threatening.

_Oogway: Oh, and give my congratulations to Master Tigress and the Dragon Warrior._

* * *

Tigress and Viper had been training for a while, they started after Po and them left for his bachelor party. Mantis and Monkey had came up with the idea. Tigress, at first, was totally against the idea, seeing she wanted nothing to go wrong with the wedding, but after some convincing Po had earned her approval. Tigress still didn't like the idea, but wanted Po to be happy.

As she trained, Tigress thought of the day tomorrow. The one thing that stuck in her head was the dress. Viper had capitalized on the idea to let her ideas flow, but at first Tigress hadn't wanted a dress. Shifu and Viper, with time, got her to approve of one of Viper's dress designs on two conditions. One, she could take it off immediately following the wedding for the party afterwards, Tigress had not wanted to be in that thing all night. Two, she could put small gems, of her choice, down the side of the dress. She choose none other than a deep jade green and a dark amber. Shifu and Viper had agreed to the terms and everyone was happy, more or less.

"You ready of tomorrow?", Viper asked striking a dummy.

"As ready as I'll ever be.", Tigress replied still working on a new move she had been trying to learn for week now.

"Your lucky.", Viper stated.

"I thought we established this already."

"Yeah, we did. I wanted to make sure you heard me. At least I wish someone looked at me."

Tigress just smiled, her friend not knowing that someone did have an interest in her. "What about our avian friend?"

Viper very clearly blushed, "Crane? He still sends those letters to Mei-Ling, I don't even know if he would choose me over her."

"You'll never know, until you try.", Tigress tried to quietly push her friend and comrade. Viper didn't speak but thought about Tigress' words in her head.

"I suppose every dog has his day… except for Simba that is, poor guy.", Viper said out loud.

Tigress's eyes when narrow at this statement, when she first herd of how Nixa cheated on Simba she was furious. How do you play a guys heart like that? Tigress had been angry enough with that woman for messing with her friends and fellow master. She shook the thought from her head as he didn't talk much about if anymore, and she had a wedding tomorrow. She couldn't have those kinds of thoughts, only good ones. The two continued their training for the night. Tigress was going to sleep in her old room so that she could get up early and prepare. Po would be sleeping in his old room at his dad's shop, along with all the guys including Simba's dad so they could get ready without distractions.

* * *

**(A/N: Some of you will be like "There wasn't any blackjack or poker back in ancient China." And you would probably be right, since poker wasn't invented until early 1800's. Non the less, there was some form or gambling back then (Maybe Dice) But for the stories sake it was invented earlier.) **

It was well into the night and Monkey and Mantis were on a roll with the shots and gambling. The more they drank, the more money they won gambling. I was quit obvious that they were enjoying their selves tonight. Crane stuck to small glasses of sake and playing blackjack with some other cranes he meet. They had also been in calligraphy and the three of them struck up a conversation. The other two had convinced Crane to try his hand at blackjack. Po was surprised, he never thought Crane as a gambler. Simba and Po sat down and played poker with a few other guys. It was a good time, they joked around with the other guys and enjoyed a drink every once and a while. For Simba and Po it was pretty steady going. Po and Simba were winning a far amount of money and actually getting really lucky, but then a thought popped into Po's head.

"So you never told me the name of this girl.", Po said looking at his cards, then looked at Simba.

"I didn't?", Simba checked his own cards, but not liking his hand so he folded them.

"Nope.", Po raised the bet.

"Her name is Nala, it means queen, and boy did she look like it.", Simba said as he watched the other guys either folded or called Po's bet.

"How so?", Po watched the flop.

**(A/N: If anyone has questions on poker terms, I will answer them for you.)**

"She had the perfect body, walked, talked, and deserved to be treated like a queen.", Simba watched as Po raised again and most of the remaining guys called his raise.

"So just her image made her a queen?", Po asked as the next card came.

"No, her personality was superb too. She helped anyone she could and always reminded me of manners. But when it was just us, she acted so much more open like I was her only friend. We always had so much fun together."

"That's a good friendship to have. Reminds me of me and Tigress, but I had to pry on her more to get her to open up and I was nice about it too.", said the panda as he callously watched the river card.

Simba thought of his precious moments he had with his best friend, Nala. But thoughts were waved away when Po won the hefty sized pot. Simba congratulated Po on the win, and the night went on like that. Eventually it was time to leave, Po and Simba being the only ones who came out on top of the gambling. Monkey and Mantis had spun away all their money on the roulette tables, ending up with nothing. Po had to carry Monkey and Mantis to his dad's shop because they had gotten so drunk. Simba and Crane were close behind talking about the people they had meet and how their night of gambling had gone. The night ended with Po looking at his action-figures in his old room, with the snores of his friends in the background.

* * *

**And we have the first chapter of ANFL 2: The Generation of Change. What do you guys think about it? And don't be shy, I would really like know what you guys thought of it. Even if it is just a simple 'Good Job'. Also I am leaving it up to the readers for this : Mei-Ling, Viper, or neither, who should be with Crane? I'll keep a tally from the replays in the reviews and P.M.'s. Please review the chapter and Stay Frosty!**


	2. D Day

**Chapter 2: D-Day**

**It's wedding day for Po and Tigress, and all their friends and family are there to support them. Including the Valley of Peace. This chapter will be fairly straight forward, so sit back and enjoy your read!**

* * *

Today was the day to start the rest of his life, Po was up at the crack of dawn to get ready for his and Tigress' big day. He had bought special black slacks and a black jacket for this event. Simba was quick to waken next as he and Po were the less drunk from the night before. Monkey, Mantis , and Crane woke up soon after and began to get ready. Everyone was partially dressed when they heard a knock at the door downstairs.

Po went downstairs to open the door to reveal Simba's dad.

"Hey Tiger, My dad and the guys are in here getting ready.", Po pointed into the shop, Tiger nodded and followed Po into the house.

"Ouch my head…", said Monkey rubbing his head.

"You guys party hard last night?", Tiger asked, giving a small laugh about it.

"Here, drink this. It's a great hangover reliever.", Mantis handed Monkey a cup of green liquid.

Monkey looked and sniffed it, then stuck out his tongue holing his nose. "What is it?!"

"Just drink it.", Mantis walked away shaking his head, he is a master pain reliever isn't he?

Monkey shrugged and threw back half the liquid, cringing as it went down.

"How do you feel Crane?", said Mantis as he walked over.

"Pretty good. I didn't drink as much as you and Monkey but I still feel it.", Crane replied to Mantis' question. Mantis nodded his head, meaning that Crane didn't have a large hangover.

"If you guys are done playing doctor, we need to finish getting ready.", Po said trying to get his head into his shirt, failing all the way. There was another knock at the door, and this time Po asked Crane to go get it, seeing as his head was still stuck in his shirt. Monkey, Mantis and Simba all tried to help Po while Crane went to the door.

Crane was still fiddling with the tie around his neck as he opened the door. "I'm sorry the Dragon Warrior is busy at the moment."

"So can I talk to his friend?", Crane immediately realized the speakers voice and looked up.

"Mei-Ling?", Crane and her eyes connected for a moment until her really realized it was her.

"Who else, I couldn't miss the wedding of ages could I?", Mei-Ling pulled him into a hug. "It has been too long."

"Yeah…it has.", Crane said still in their hug.

"Yeah Crane…, oh, Mei-Ling what a surprise.", Po's voice from behind them jolted the two out of their hug. "Sorry, Crane I just wanted to tell you we are ready to go."

Crane nodded his head and the group took off towards the Jade Palace.

* * *

"Tigress stop messing with the dress.", Viper had to slap away the feline's paw, again.

"Sorry Viper, it's just uncomfortable.", Tigress said resisting the urge to tug at the fabric.

"And… there. Perfect.", said the snake.

"H-how do I look?", Tigress stuttered like she was trying to impress someone on a first date.

"See for yourself.", Viper pointed at a mirror on the wall.

Tigress took a few steps forward into view of the mirror. The dress was pure white from the chest down, and was strapless. From waist down the dress spread outward with the amber and jade gems, that she requested, looked as if they danced around her. No veil though, Tigress wanted to make sure her pride was showing. On top of all that, the dress hugged her body tightly and showed every curve. The two girls were so into admiring Tigress' dress that they didn't see Shifu walk in behind them.

"Are we about ready? The men have arrived, and Po is at the altar." Shifu had on a warm smile as he looked at his daughter in a wedding dress.

"Yeah, I think we are.", Tigress turned to her father, putting on the engagement ring Po had given her.

Viper headed out of the room to the courtyard. Shifu stopped Tigress from going out of the room, trying to hold back his emotions.

"I would just like to let you know, I have always been proud of you and I always will.", Shifu said with a proud smile on his face.

"Thank you, father.", father… the word had finally sunk in.

"Let's go, I believe there is a man who is waiting on you."

* * *

The last of the Villagers has filed into the Jade Palace Courtyard. There was lots of cheering and clapping as Po walked up into the courtyard. Tigress and Po had picked this spot for a very special reason, the last time the courtyard housed such a grand event was when Po fell out of the sky.

Po stood at the altar and he felt all eyes on him, It's not the first time he had been at the center of attention, this was just er… different. He thought of the day he had been chosen by Oogway, and he thought it was a mistake. Everyone here acted like they hated him, especially Tigress. Po was pretty sure Tigress wanted to ripe his guts out, though he was glad she didn't. He was pretty sure that she was happy she didn't either.

Tigress stood beside her father ready to walk into the courtyard. For a moment, her thoughts flashed back to the last big ceremony that happened here. Po fell in from of her face, thinking he had stolen the Dragon Warrior title from her, she was furious. She had hated him for ruining her life, but she had soon began to realize that he was the real Dragon Warrior after he defeated Tia-Lung. Soon after, he had became her best friend.

Everyone took their seats as the band started the music. The friends and family of Master Tigress and Dragon Warrior sat in chairs near the altar, all dressed in nice clothes. Literally everyone was here.

The music started a certain song, signaling for the bride to start walking in, with her father right beside her. Tigress could see Po standing by the altar, his goofy smile beaming off his face. Her ears stood erect as she listened to the crowd whisper throughout the courtyard. She heard one say, 'Look how beautiful she is!' another whispered, 'The Dragon Warrior is so lucky.'. Tigress's face held a small yet proud smile as she walked towards Po.

Once she was there, Shifu walked from her side to his chair in the front row. Po and Tigress took each other's hands and looked deeply into the eyes of their beloved. They keep their focus on each other as the ceremony proceeded, neither of them bothering to listen to it as they were too far gone into the eyes of the person standing before them.

It came time to say the vows, Po and Tigress had written their own vows for each other. Po started first.

"My first day here was nothing short of extraordinary. I was pretty sure Shifu and the Five wanted me gone, especially Tigress.", this earned some chuckles through out the courtyard. " But everything happens for reason. I became the Dragon Warrior, defeated two dangers to china, and now I am marrying my best friend and love of my life. I promise to you, Tigress, for as long as I live I will always be there for you no matter the challenge. If I had the choice to change anything in my life, I wouldn't. I want everything exactly the way it is now.", Po finished receiving an applaud from the crowd as Tigress got ready for her turn to speak.

"Po, from the first day, I didn't treat you the best as I should have and I am so sorry for the way I and the five acted.", 'awes' echoed from all directions. "After you defeated Tai-Lung I began to really see who you were. And that eventually grew into something wonderful. You always see the best in everyone, have a great personality, and a fan boyish smile that I love. Please never change, I love you for you. I give you my word that my heart belongs to only you and I will always strive to please your needs in sickness or health, for as long as I live.", again the crowd clapped for Tigress. The Emperor took his place again as Po and Tigress took each other's paws.

"May I have the rings?", the Emperor asked as a small child ran up, bowed, and gave the rings to him. He in turn gave the rings to Po and Tigress. Tigress put her ring on Po's finger as Po put his on her finger.

"I now pronounce you, in front of all of China, Mr. and Mrs. Ping. You may now kiss your mate.", as the Emperor finished Po swept Tigress up in his arms kissing her along the way. Tigress giggled as she returned his kiss, this is the happiest she has ever been. The crowd erupted in cheers and applauded for the newlyweds. Tigress and Po walked, hand in hand, towards the door of the Jade Palace. The friends and family followed them as the citizens filed out of the courtyard, heading to where the reception would be held.

* * *

About two hours later after the wedding, the reception for Po and Tigress was in full swing and most of the valley had shown up into the town square. Tigress was back into her original training clothes, but Po was still in his black suite without the jacket on.

There was food being served by a team of chefs being lead by Mr. Ping, who was exceptionally excited about being able to serve his food at his son's wedding.

Tigress, Po, and the rest were all sitting at a long white table in front of the reception, eating and talking.

Simba stood up to get everyone's attention, the crowd hushed and turned their attention to the German Sheppard at the front. As Po's best man he wanted to say something to the newlywed couple.

"I first came to this town on my last leg, searching for the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. The first person I ran into that actually talked back to me was Po. We were quick to become friends through the battles and training. When I met Tigress for the first time she was nice, though I'm told she wasn't always like that. It was Po who broke down the barriers that surrounded her heart. Po really was her complete opposite, which always attract. To the yin-yang warriors! Congratulations you two.", Simba raised his glass as did the crowd and they all chanted back 'To the yin-yang warriors!'.

Soon after the dancing and music started, the bride and groom were the first to dance. At first, it was a slow song as the villagers watched in happiness. Tigress held her hands around Po's neck and he held on to her waist, and they held each other close. Tigress had her eyes closed, enjoying the moment, taking in the smell of his fur and the cooked food. Soon the speed of the music sped up, causing Po and Tigress to take a different dance style, so they decided on the dance they did before they fought Khan. The crowd was really excited to see Tigress and Po seemingly moving as one, they really captured the audience's stare. After they finished, the crowd roared with cheers.

Everyone was soon dancing around the couple. Mei-Ling and Crane danced together, she was resting her head on his shoulder smiling all the way. Even Mr. Ping and Tiger danced with some people. Simba just sat at the table taking small sips of Champaign and thinking of what could have been.

Viper was upset at the fact Mei-Ling had come to the wedding, permanently destroying her chances with Crane. At first, she refused to dance, but a shy male cobra asked her to dance to which she accepted. Viper had soon forgotten about Crane and was having fun with a new friend. Everyone danced, ate, and asked the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress to kiss; until it was late in the night. The villagers thanked and congratulated the newly married and headed home. The Five and the rest, headed back to the Jade Palace.

At the Palace they all sat in the Dinning Hall eating leftovers and playing small games. Some of the more tipsy warriors and older dads headed off to bed. Mei-Ling and Crane went to go talk outside to talk. Simba said goodnight to the remaining two and headed off, leaving just Tigress and Po behind. Until, they too, walked paw in paw to spend their first night in their house together.

**WITH MEI-LING AND CRANE…**

"So what do you plan on doing?", Crane asked as they lay on their backs looking at the half moon in the sky.

Mei-Ling just shrugged her shoulders and sighed, "I don't know."

"I could talk to Master Shifu… maybe you could stay here. With me.", Crane had small, almost unnoticeable pink blushes on his cheeks.

"Really? You think he would let me do that?", Mei looked at Crane with wonder in her eyes.

"He has grown softer with Po and Tigress' marriage, yes I think he would let you.", smiling back at her.

"That would be amazing!", Mei-Ling said and in her excitement picked up Crane hugging him tightly.

"H-hard… to … breath…", Crane struggled to say.

"Oh, sorry.", Mei-Ling put him down and blushed.

"It's alright.", said Crane putting a wing around her to which she replied with a quick lick on the side of his cheek. Sending chills up Crane' spine.

**WITH SIMBA…**

_Simba was wandering around town, looking for something or someone. After a little while he say another German Sheppard walking around and decided to approach her._

"_Hello?", Simba asked._

"_Simba?!", the female German Sheppard wiped her around her head towards him._

"_Nala!", They instantly recognized each other, jumping into each other's arms. They were soon kissing each other and everything got really passionate and hot. _

_The world soon went black as Simba found himself back at his village. There was and attack on the village, and there was man yelling at other men to grab weapons and defend the village. Simba grabbed his sword and went running after the enemy, to witch he only found a burning house. Simba recognized it as Nala's family's house. _

_Simba put down his weapon and tried to go into the house burning his paw in the process._

"_Nala! Are you in there?!", Simba shouted into the house. Suddenly the door of the house opened, making Simba fall back off the porch looking at a Nala covered in flames._

"_Why didn't you save me Simba?"_

"_I tried!"_

"_I thought you loved me!"_

"_I do I always loved you, Don't leave me!", Simba got up and ran towards Nala, only to find she was getting farther and farther away._

"_Why didn't you save me?", he heard her voice again. Simba was now running around the forest around he village. _

"_I thought you loved me.!", again her voice echoed. Simba was still running… searching…_

"_WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME!"_

Simba awoke with a gasp of air. He was sweating and sitting straight up in bed. Rubbing his head and walking over to the window of his room. Looking at the moon, her face appeared, smiling at him in a loving way.

"I tried to save you Nala, I tried…", Simba fell to his knees and cried into his paws.

**WITH PO AND TIGRESS…**

"So we finally get to spend our first night in our house.", Tigress said rubbing up against Po as they walked inside. Everything was exactly the same as they had left it.

"Yeah it will be different than sleeping in the rooms up at the palace.", Po nodded, still looking around the house.

"We are alone…", Tigress whispered.

"That's right.", Po nodded.

"On our wedding night."

"Yup."

"Free to do what we want."

"Three for Thr… oohhh.", Po finally got at what Tigress was getting at.

Tigress smirked, shook her head , and pushed Po against the wall. She leaned in to kiss him and he returned it. Few minutes pass and the friendly kiss had now gotten very intense. Their paws were exploring each other's bodies and tongues danced in unison. Tigress let out a small soft moan of pleasure as Po pulled her to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

Now, I cannot tell what happens behind closed doors, but I can tell you that passionate roars were heard through out the night.

* * *

**That felt long to me, did it feel long to you guys? Anyway that's chapter two, what did you think? R&R, and Stay Frosty!**


	3. The Wake Up Call

**Chapter 3: The Wake Up Call**

**What's up guys? I believe it is time for another chapter on this story, agreed? I don't want to talk for too long, but it seems that the starting to this story has been good, or that's what I'm getting from the reviews. Yay! That makes me very happy, means I have been doing a good job. Well enough of the chitchat… on to the story!**

**Possible grammer mistakes, be warned.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kung-Fu Panda or any characters. I only own my OC's.**

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The next day came quietly, with a light fog as it was in the beginning stages of fall. Up at the palace a pair of eyes opened. The German Sheppard rubbed his eyes before lifting himself out of bed and pushed himself down the hall, using the wall for support. After all, he had been up through the night, unable to sleep because of his nightmare.

Simba stretched his body as he walked into the kitchen, finding Crane, Monkey, Viper, and Mantis sat around the table.

"Hey nice of you to join us in the land of the living." Monkey joked.

"I miss Po's cooking already." Mantis whined.

"He is just down the stairs, not even a five minute walk. Just go ask him for food." Crane joked, not planning for Mantis to take him seriously.

"No Mantis!" Viper grabbed him, holding him back from going after Po. "I'm sure Po and Tigress are still asleep after their wedding day, also don't you know what married couples do on their wedding nights? None of us want to walk in on that."

"Aww… we what am I going to eat then?" Mantis questioned everyone.

"Relax, I'm not that bad of a cook. I'll make us something. Viper, can you get some tea started, I need a wake up call." The still groggy Simba said.

"Since when have you been able to cook?" Viper asked putting a pot of water on the stove.

"Mom taught me, a man was supposed to know how to cook in my village. Didn't hurt my chances with the women any… Nala loved my cooking…" Simba mentally punched himself for remembering her name again, as he threw wood into the stove to get it nice and hot.

"Who is Nala?" she was the only that heard Simba say the name.

"My girlfriend that I was unable to protect in my home town." Simba said with a solemn look on his face.

"What happened?" The curious snake pressed for more answers.

"Long story… Maybe I will tell you some other day. Besides it's not like I can change the past by talking about it." Simba looked into the pot of boiling noodles adding some seasonings, a little here and a little there.

"Here we are guys." Simba served his soup to his friends and took his normal place at the table. Simba waited a few seconds for the approval.

"Wow… this is good! Almost as good as Po's! Almost…" Mantis said with his face full of noodles.

"I agree Simba, well done." Shifu said at the pot of food.

"What the…? Where…? Ahh… never mind." Simba said confused, he still wasn't used to Shifu's appearing and disappearing act.

"Your mother taught you this?" Viper asked before taking another sip.

"Well… not all of it… Most of it I taught myself while traveling here. First time I tasted Po's soup I was able to pick out what was in it with ease. I was compared his with his dad's." said Simba admiring his handy work.

"So what's in Po's dad's Secret Ingredient Soup?" Monkey chimed in.

"I don't think Po or his dad would appreciate me telling you." A small smile grew across Simba's face as Monkey and Mantis' face dropped from not getting to know Po's secret.

"Is there a reason, besides your mother, that you can cook so well?" Crane questioned.

"Before I found Kung-Fu, I wanted to own a tavern and make delicious food for travelers. I know cliché, but still…" Simba shrugged his shoulders at the last part.

(A/N: Want to know something? I seriously want to open a restaurant after college. I guess Simba and I are alike ;) Lol.)

**WITH PO AND TIGRESS…**

The sun slowly crept up the two sleeping figures. Po was snoring lightly, and Tigress was ever so slightly purring in her sleep. They were both faced towards the window with Tigress tucked under Po's chin, and wrapped in a tight bear hug from him. Their hands were intertwined and her tail was neatly curling up Po's right leg. They looked so peaceful together, to bad the sun had to ruin their fun.

The sunlight moved across Tigress chest, up along her neck to her chin. Then climbing up past her nose and into her eyes…

Tigress squirmed in Po's grip and she turned over burying her face into his chest trying her best to avoid the sunlight. This caused her husky panda to awaken from his sleep too.

Po slowly opened one of his eyes to close it shut quickly from sunlight coming in through the window. He felt his beloved tiger moving below him and held her closer, causing the tiger to rub her face into his fur further.

"Hey, beautiful." Po whispered, kissing her on the top of her head.

"Morning Po." Tigress' muffled voice came out from beneath his chest fur.

"Sleep well, hun?" Po said closing his eyes trying to get comfortable again.

"Yeah… the best I have slept in ages." Tigress was now lying on her side of the bed looking into his jade eyes.

"Good… wow I can't believe I have woke up a married man." Po said with a sweet smile on his face holding her paw.

"And I can't believe you talked me into the marriage." Tigress giggled at her own joked, causing the panda to roll his eyes.

"And I can't believe you talked me into 'that' last night." It was now Po's turn to laugh at his own joke.

Tigress rolled her eyes at him and then pecked his lips ever so slightly, "I am quiet sure you had no reason to object to last night." Tigress whispered seductively in his ear.

A shiver was sent down Po's spine as she spoke to him, then he realized that he should probably stop looking so stupefied as she rolled out of bed.

"Yeah…your right… I didn't have any objections. Or any right now for that matter." Po put on a cheesy grin as he himself got out of bed.

Tigress let herself purr freely as Po wrapped his large arms around her waist, pulling her into a hug from behind. Po tenderly snuggling her cheek against his.

"Just so you know, yesterday was the most awesome day I have ever had." Po said kissing her neck.

"Really? I always thought the day you were proclaimed the Dragon Warrior rivaled in awesomeness." Tigress let out a small chuckle as she turned around in his grip to look him in the eyes.

"Well it did have a feeling different than that of our wedding." Po laughed.

"Alright, we should probably get up to the palace to meet up with everyone else. I'm sure they are worried." Tigress said trying to put on some clothes; unknowingly Po had a devise little idea on his mind.

"Nah… I think we can make them wait a little longer." Po said as he grabbed Tigress by the paw and falling to the floor, pulling her with him. Both laughing, as they fell all the way down to the floor.

**BACK AT THE PALACE…**

"So how did you manage to find yourself trying to learn Kung-Fu?" Crane asked just before turning his head to see Mei-Ling walking in the door rubbing her eyes, indicating she had just woken up.

"One day an old turtle came into my village of Bastogne and told us he was a traveler. The leader of our village told our best cooks to prepare a meal for the older gentleman, witch I watched them do. Hours afterwards, the turtle showed us all something, Kung-Fu… witch I instantly fell in love with. My leaders at the time were… very wary towards the martial art and asked for the turtle to take his leave. Before he left I had a chance to ask him where I could learn what he had to show. He told me, _'the wind carries many changes, but yours I sense will lead to something great. When the time comes make your way to the Furious Five.'_ And after that I never saw him again." Simba finished with his small story.

"You met Master Oogway?" Master Shifu nearly choked on his soup _'There are no accidents.'_.

"That was his name? How did you know him?" Simba scrunched his brow in confusion, but stood up to get Mei-Ling a bowl of soup.

"Thanks." She stated, receiving a node from Simba as he turned his attention back to Shifu.

"He was this palace's Grandmaster for a very long… long… time. Until he passed away, just after Po becoming the Dragon warrior." Said the red panda as he stared into his soup.

"Oh… I'm sorry to here that, but that explains why he knew you guys." Said Simba.

"So how did you sleep?" Crane looked over to Mei-Ling to was peacefully eating her soup and listening to Simba and Shifu's conversation.

'Wha…? Oh me? Yeah I slept fine" She replied with a smile. "Thanks for letting me use the Dragon Warrior's old room."

"Hey, not a problem. It's not like he uses it anymore." Crane chuckled as he was slowly becoming lost in her eyes.

But that moment was ruined as they heard heavy panting coming from the hallway. They assumed it was Po after climbing the stairs. Well… they were sort of right.

"Hey… guys… can… you… hide… me…" Po said gasping for air between words.

"Why would you need…?" Simba started but was unable to finish his sentence as a tiger tackled him into the hallway, gaining laughter from everyone sitting around the table.

"Ouch… what was that for?" everyone could hear Po from the hallway.

"You know damn well what that was for." Tigress chuckled as she walked in and took her set at the table.

"What was that all about?" Viper was still giggling at the married couples antics.

"I challenged her to a race." Po said walking in the room holding his side.

"That's it?" Monkey looked at Tigress.

"No… as he said 'go' he pushed me into a bush." Tigress replied to the group, all of them having the same 'Ohhhh.' look on their faces.

Po took a seat next to Tigress, and she lovingly wrapped her tail around his leg. "Hey! I needed some kind of head start! I would never beat you in a head to head race."

"You got that right, so what are we all talking about?" Tigress asked as Simba placed a bowl of soup in front of Tigress and one in front of Po.

"Simba met Oogway back in his village." Shifu spoke up.

"Mei-Ling appearently stayed the night." Chuckled a brown simian, causing Mei-Ling and Crane to blush.

"And Simba can damn near replicate your cooking, Po." Mantis said as he got another bowl of noodles.

"Really? How?" Po glanced at Simba with a questioning look.

Simba shrugged and said "Talent."

"Since I have all of you here, I have a small announcement." Shifu paused and waited for everyone to turn their attention to him, then continued. "Due to our recent events I have awarded everyone a week off." The faces around the table light up with excitement.

Shifu then turned to Po and Tigress. "As for you two, I am giving you an extra week. You all may spend your time how you like. How ever be on your guard I sense we are not out of the woods yet. I will be at the Pool of Sacred Tears, meditating." Shifu took his leave, still worried about Oogway's warning.

"Okay guys, I am going to go visit my dad at Mr. Pings" Simba stood up taking care of his dishes.

"You know what, I'm going to go to. Dad could probably use some help, even though he has had Tiger's help. You want to go hun?" Po looked at his mate.

"I was going to meditate and train, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a break." Said Tigress standing up along Po.

The three of them helped clean up then headed down the stairs to Mr. Pings. Simba lead the group, his head in the clouds. Tigress and Po were right behind him, both engaging in small talk.

Tigress yet again had her tail wrapped around Po's leg as she walked next to him. Po thought it was for one of three reasons. One, it was her way of holding hands, but Po thought this was the weakest reason due to the fact that she would have done it more often. She had done it before, but not this often. Two, it was a tiger-mate-thing; because the two had just recently become true mates, Po couldn't help think it might be something that tiger's did with their mates. Lastly, it was because of his recent kidnapping by Khan, she had begun to hold his leg with her tail so she would always know that he was there. Either way Po didn't mind, her tail was never in the way and had he gotten used to the feel of it being there, and Po wouldn't have it any other way.

**SOMEWHERE IN A PRISON…**

Two guards sat outside a cellblock playing cards. Neither of them realized a danger lurking from beyond the grave.

"Go fish!" one of the guards laughed.

"Man, how do you always beat me?" the other guard whined.

"Cause I… do you hear that?" the first guard turned his head towards the cellblock.

"Yeah… I do." The second guard said grabbing his keys to unlock the door.

The guards walked into the cellblock and walked towards the sound coming from the other side of the wall. Even the prisoners came to their doors to see what was going on. A series of thuds could be heard beyond the wall. One of the guards saw a piece of the wall fall out on one of the thuds. The first guard peered through the hole and his eyes widened in shock, the peacock once thought to be dead had a cannon pointed at the prison.

"Fire!" the voice yelled as his still loyal wolves launched yet another cannon ball.

"Oh Sh…" was all the guard could mutter as the cannon ball slammed through the wall. Dust and rubble went flying throughout the room, also sending both guards to the ground on their backs. Clanking was heard as the figure walked through the hole made by the cannon ball.

"Evening gentlemen. Tell me, where can I find Khan?" said Shen.

"Right here, what do you need me for?" Khan growled from behind his bars.

"Oh… nothing really. I was just hoping we could be business partners." Shen eyed the black panther.

"Really? Why would I work with you?"

"Revenge."

**AT MR. PING'S…**

"So how are the two love birds doing?" said Tiger as he stirred a pot of dumpling mix on the stove.

"We are good." Po and Tigress said at the same time.

"I am so happy for my boy!" Mr. Ping said as he came into the kitchen.

"Enough about those two." Simba laughed and turned to his dad. "So finally able to put some of your cooking skills to work?"

"Yeah, thank your mother for teaching me. Or I would have been of no use to Mr. Ping." Tiger was folding the fresh dumplings now.

"You have been plenty help Tiger, with or without your cook. Though I do have to say your cooking skills have defiantly been a huge help." Mr. Ping said taking the dumplings to a table.

The day went on Po and the others helping out at the restaurant, all having fun while serving customers, it was definitely a nice change of pace for the warriors.

Just then someone walked into the restaurant. She was not from her, as she did not look like the normal villagers. She looked like she had been traveling for a while and took a seat at a table and waited.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you today?" Mr. Ping came to the table.

"Hello, where is the Jade Palace?" She said in a soft voice.

"Actually some of the warriors from the palace are here. I can ask them if you want, maybe they can escort you up there when they head home." Mr. Ping pointed to the back.

"I would love that very much." The female said.

"PO, TIGRESS, SIMBA! You have a visitor." Mr. Ping yelled towards the back, and then he stopped and thought for a moment. "This feels familiar." Mr. Ping shrugged and waddled off. The female's ears, unknowingly to Mr. Ping, had perked her ears up at Simba's name.

"Haha… yeah right. Mantis cannot do that!" Simba came out from the kitchen, laughing as Po and Tigress followed him.

"I'm telling you he can! Ask him sometime!" said Po obviously believing he was right on what they were talking about.

"You know what I…" Simba froze causing Tigress to run into him.

"Simba, what's the matter?" Tigress asked trying to see what he was starring out.

"N-Nala?" Simba stuttered out.

"Simba?"

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**Well… that's one way to end a chapter. I'm sorry that I ended it with a cliffhanger; I know I'm evil. Haha, so how did everyone like the update? Looks like and evil is back along with Simba's childhood friend. Please Review and Stay Frosty!**


	4. A True Friend's True Return

**Chapter 4: A True Friend's True Return**

**Hey guys! I'm back for more, and I'm sorry I'm getting these out slowly. I have got lots of projects and papers due in the next couple weeks. This chapter will be mainly about Simba and Nala. Will it be an awkward meeting or a happy get together? I just we will have to just find out, onward to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I absolutely do not own anything Kung Fu Panda owns. The only thing I happen to own is my stories and my awesome characters.**

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"Nala?"

"Simba?"

The two stared at each other for a moment, each of them not believing what their eyes were letting them see. The childhood friend, they had each recently believed to be dead was now standing before them. And to say as if it is needed, it was too much for one of them.

S-Simba… is that…" was all Nala could get out before her world turned black and she fainted.

Simba was quick on his feet and managed to catch her before her head hit the ground, stopping possible head damage. The first thing Simba noticed is that her fur was thick and heavy; it was full of dirt and grease. She smelled like she had been traveling for ages and had tears and holes all over her clothes. But one thing stood out to him more profound than what his senses could pick up, she still looked beautiful to him. Even unconscious she looked peaceful. The only thing Simba was upset about was that her eye where closed… that's the only thing he wanted to see. Her eyes. He wanted to make sure she was really real.

"Oh my… Nala is alive? I though she…" Tiger trailed off.

"T-that's Nala?" Po came up from behind Simba.

Simba had to force himself to look away from his best friend lying in his arms to respond to Po's question. "Yeah… she still looks to beautiful, even after all these years. But, this… this is her."

"She needs help right now. We need to get her back to the palace and get her some medical attention." Tigress said from behind the both of them. "Let's say goodbye to Mr. Ping, Po. Simba you go ahead and take Nala up to the palace, we will be right be hind you."

Simba nodded in return, said goodbye to his dad, and then picked up Nala bridle style and started walking towards the Jade Palace. While Po and Tigress stayed behind to say goodbye to Mr. Ping.

"You sure you don't need anymore help dad?" Po was slightly unconvinced.

"Yes Po, besides I think your new friend needs more help than I do." Mr. Ping said pointing in the direction Simba had gone in.

"Right. Bye dad, and I'll see you later Tiger." Po waved to Tiger, who had gone back to the kitchen.

"Yes, we will see you soon Mr. Ping." Tigress bowed to her father in-law.

"Please, Tigress, call me father. After all, you're married to my son now." Mr. Ping exclaimed.

Tigress blushed at the statement then said, "Yes, father." This made the old goose grin with pleasure. "Goodbye Tiger." Earned a wave from him, and with that Tigress turned around to walk back to the palace.

**AT THE JADE PALACE…**

The Five, minus Tigress and Po, and Simba were all in Po's old room, looking at the sleeping Nala before them.

"So this is the 'Nala' I have heard about?" Viper spoke up.

"You are correct." Simba refused to take his eyes off her.

"How well did you know each other?" Monkey raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

"We were friends for as long as I could remember. We even dated before she disappeared, or so I thought… I was even going to ask her to marry me when the time was right. But…. Life didn't let me."

"Why did she faint?" Crane asked with Mei-Ling by his side.

"Probably from all the stress of traveling so far so fast, also coupled with the fact she saw a long lost face she hadn't seen in years. Especially when that face meant a great deal to her." Viper returned his question. "Mantis, go grab your acupuncture needles and see if you can help her relax."

The green bug was quick to go to his room and return with a wooden box. As he put the needles in, everyone could see Nala's body start to relax the tensed up muscles. Just then Master Shifu walked in with Po and Tigress right behind him.

"So this is who you told me about?" Shifu asked while walking closer to Nala.

"Yes Master." Tigress replied.

"She looks like she has been through hell and back." Shifu stated and everyone else agreed. Then Shifu looked at Simba, "How do you know her so well?"

"We were… are best friends. I dated her for a small time before I… I thought she was dead." Simba's mouth went numb after last word.

Shifu contemplated for a moment then decided something needed to be done to make her more comfortable.

"Students! She is our guest now, and we must treat her like one. Be on your best behavior and treat her like you would your own family. Master Tigress and Master Viper, you are to clean her up and make sure the dirt is out of her fur. Master Po, you are to go make some food and keep it ready for when she wakes up and by the looks of it, she won't disagree to eat."

Po nodded and turned to go to the kitchen. Tigress and Viper began to pick up Nala and transport her to the bathhouse. Shifu then turned to the remaining students, realizing Simba didn't look like he wanted to leave her side.

"Simba, please head down to the valley and find Nala some new clothes. I'm positive she won't want to put those dirty ones back on. Oh… and hurry back, when she wakes up she might be scared and a known face will help keep her calm." Shifu stated as Simba bowed to him and took off running towards the valley.

"Master Monkey and Master Mantis, you will help make Po's room much more suitable for miss Nala. Master Crane and Mei-Ling, please patrol the village. We don't need a surprise while we have a guest." Shifu finished and bowed to his students.

**WITH SIMBA…**

The only thing in his mind was 'I can't believe she is back'. Simba silently thought to himself. Simba turned into the clothing store hoping to quickly be in and out of the shop.

"Hello Master Simba." A fox, obviously a seamstress at the shop, came up to him. Simba thought about telling the seamstress that he wasn't yet a master but decided against it, because people image was important to the Jade Palace.

"How can I help you today?" said the fox.

"Yes, I need a women's training vest and pants, one size smaller than me."

"Yes sir, any particular design today?" she asked as she took his measurements.

"Sure why not? Black pants, white shirt with… a blue flower design." Her favorite color he thought.

Thirty minutes later the fox came out from the back with a brown paper package and handed it to Simba.

"How much do I owe you?" he asked.

"For you? Nothing. Take it as a special thanks for saving my shop last week from those bandits." Replied the fox. They both bowed to each other and Simba began to head back to the Jade Palace.

**BACK AT THE PALACE…**

"Wow, she had a lot of dirt on her." Viper said as she and Tigress set Nala back down on the bed.

"I know. I seemed like she was on the road for ages." Said Tigress.

They realized that Po's bedroom had been switched to look more like everyone else's. Po's bed had been swapped out with a much smaller one and his Kung-Fu posters had also been taken down. The closets were filled with new blankets, straightened up, and cleaned up. The room had been changed around to feel much more roomy and a new dresser for clothes had been put in the corner. Just then, Mantis and Monkey walked in.

"Hey, you two are really good maids. You should tidy up more often." Viper joked.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." Said Mantis making a face.

"So how is Nala doing?" Po said and came in with a hot bowl of soup for Nala, but seeing she was still asleep he put the bowl on the nightstand.

"Well she is clean now, but still asleep." Tigress said walking over to stand next to Po.

"Is Simba back yet?" Shifu said from behind the group.

Crane just then flew in and said; "Not yet Master, but he is on his way. I just saw him climbing the stairs as I flew back here."

"Where is Mei-Ling?" Asked the grandmaster.

"She is checking out the southern residence area before she returns." Replied Crane earning a nod from Shifu.

"Mmhp…" Nala was beginning to wake up and everyone looked at her as she rubbed her eyes. When she realized what was going on she sat straight up and backed up on the bed as far as she could. Wouldn't you be scared if you woke up and saw a monkey, mantis, tiger, panda, a crane, and a snake looking at you?

"W-where am I?" Nala stuttered as she looked at the room full of staring eyes.

But before anyone could answer her, Simba walked into the room holding the brown packaged clothing and a hand full of blue flowers.

"Hey guys, do we have a vase because I found some of her favorite…" Simba stopped in his tracks when he turned the corner to see Nala sitting up in the bed.

"Simba!" Nala shouted and hurdled out of the bed and ran to him, jumping into his arms. Simba had to drop the flowers and clothes to be able to return the hug.

"I missed you so much." Nala whispered into his ear, with tears streaming down her face.

"I know… I missed you too." Simba whispered back holding her as closely as he could. The Five and Po slipped out of the room unnoticed, leaving the two alone to catch up with each other.

"I-I c-can't believe your standing in front of me. I thought you were dead." Simba said finally letting his tears go.

The two held each other for what felt like hours to them, but they soon came to their senses and broke apart.

"Umm… I uh… I got you these." Simba gave the blue flowers to Nala, realizing he had been holding onto them the whole time.

Nala blushed a little and took the flowers; mentally noting they were her favorite color. "Thank you Simba." She said smelling them.

"Oh, and these are also for you. I didn't think you would like to wear those old tattered clothes, or that bathrobe." Simba picked up the brown package and handed it to Nala. "If you want to get switched into your new clothes and eat some of that soup, I'll wait right outside for you."

"Soup?" Nala looked confused.

"Yeah, right there." Simba pointed at the nightstand. "Po made it for you."

"Po?"

"Yeah, he is the Dragon Warrior. You will meat him soon enough." Nala seemed to accept this and Simba smiled. "I'll be waiting right outside for you, okay?"

Nala nodded and watched Simba back out of the room, keeping his eyes on her as he backed out. It seemed like Simba didn't want to leave the room, and wanted to make sure she was okay, but he was enough of a gentleman to give her the space she needed.

After Simba shut the door behind him, Nala looked over to the soup that was still sitting on the nightstand. She moved towards the soup and proceeded to sip some out of the bowl. Once, she had finished most of the soup, Nala unwrapped the brown paper package revealing a pair of black pants and a white vest with a blue flower winding its way up the right side. The design closely resembled the flowers Simba had previously given her. Minutes later Nala was dressed in her new attire. It hugged her body in the same way Tigress' clothes hugged hers. Nala picked up the soup bowl and headed to the door, only to find a sleeping Simba on the other side.

"Hey. Simba. Wake-up." Nala softly rubbed his arm causing Simba to wake up and quickly rise to his feet. Nala only giggled at his antics.

"Sorry, I am just a little tired from everything today. Let's go find the rest of the guys." Simba turned and offered a hand for her to follow him.

"You mean the others that were watching me sleep?" Nala looked over to Simba.

Simba gave a light chuckle, "Yes, the others that were watching you sleep."

In the kitchen the Five, Po, and Shifu were talking.

"I wonder what they are doing." Viper asked curiously.

"Do you really want to know that?" Mantis laughed only earning a hiss from Viper.

"Hush, he just found out that his best friend is alive, he wouldn't have the indecency to do anything bad!" Viper scowled.

"I agree with Viper." Po said nodding his head. "Simba isn't like that. If anything, he will probably be the nicest person to her."

"You all better not be talk about me." Simba said as he and Nala came around the corner. This made the group laugh a little.

"Oh, here let me take that." Po said as he took the empty bowl from Nala's hands.

"So are you Po?" Nala asked as he took the empty bowl.

"Yup, the one and only." Po said smiling as he dropped the bowl into a dish tub.

"And the Dragon Warrior?"

"Right again."

"Well, I am honored to meet you." Said Nala.

"The same. I've heard a lot about you, and I am pleased to finally put a face with a name." Po gave his signature cheesy smile.

Nala turned around to Simba wanting to know how much he had talked about her, only to find a blushing German Sheppard.

"Uhhh… t-this is Master Tigress, Po and Tigress just recently got married."

"Congratulations. I wish I could have been here to see it."

"Oh, it wasn't much. Actually there might be some leftover cake around here." Tigress said.

"It's alright, maybe later." Nala smiled and thanked Tigress.

Simba then started to name of the other master that sat around the table. "That is Master Viper, this is Master Monkey, and Master Mantis. Master Crane is sitting right there, and Mei-Ling is… not here. Where is she Crane?"

"She had to leave an go back to the academy, we decided to visit each other every other week." Crane replied and Simba nodded.

"And that… that is our Master. Grandmaster of the Jade Palace, Shifu."

"So you run this place?" Nala questioned.

"More or less. These Five, Po, and Simba are all my students. I am their master and mentor in learning the art of Kung Fu." Shifu said.

"Simba? You became a Kung Fu master like you said you would?" Nala looked of to Simba with a smile on her face.

"Well… not yet. I am working on becoming a master, I still have a long way to go."

"Actually you are coming along faster that I thought you would." Shifu said as he walked over to Simba and Nala. "And now I must ask, where or what do you plan to do?"

"I-I don't know…" Nala's ears lowered and she looked at the ground. The atmosphere in the room seemed to become sadder. "I was just trying to find Simba, but I believed I was never going to find him. I hadn't even thought about where I was going to sleep tonight."

"Nonsense, you may stay here." Shifu said lightening the mood in the room.

Nala's ears perked up when she heard that. "Really?"

"Yes, but you must learn Kung Fu while you're here and you must follow all the rules of the Jade Palace."

"I will." Nala agreed.

"Good, now I think my students might want to get some sleep. You only have four more days of freedom, except for Po and Tigress that is." Shifu said as he stood in the doorway.

They all bowed and said goodnight to their master.

**WITH SIMBA AND NALA…**

"Alright, you okay?" Simba said with care in his voice.

"Yeah… Everything is just new you know?" Nala said as she sat on her new bed.

"I understand, but you will be fine. Trust me." Said Simba as he put on a smile and laid a hand on her shoulder. "And if you need anything I'll be right across the hall."

"Okay, goodnight Simba." Nala said giving him a quick hug.

"Goodnight Nala."

**LATER THAT NIGHT…**

"Simba? Simba you awake?" Nala whispered at his door to his room.

At first she got no response, but soon she heard movement on the other side of the door. A sleepy Simba opened the door while rubbing his eyes. Nala blushed as the moonlight shone on Simba's naked upper body, and could see the outlines of his toned muscles. Simba fought falling back asleep and leaned up against the doorframe of his room.

"Ya, ok? Whuat's da maddur?" Simba slurred his talk from still trying to wake up.

Nala fought hard to shake the blush away. "I can't s-sleep."

"Oh no. Something wrong?" Simba had finally shaken himself awake.

""No, just… uncomfortable."

"Is it the bed?"

"No, just not used to being alone."

"Well… uhh… if it will help… um… you could sleep… in here." Simba was blushing as he pointed into his room.

"Really?"

"Yeah go grab your bed roll and pillow."

Nala went back into her room and brought her stuff into Simba's room.

"Right here, next to my bed." Simba gestured.

"Thank you, Simba."

"Hey no problem." He said with a smile.

Minutes later they were both in their beds, but Simba were the only one asleep. He had fallen back asleep almost as soon as he laid his head back on the pillow. Nala stayed up a little longer thinking about what had happened to her on this day. She was happy that her best friend was alive and sleeping in the bed next to hers. She didn't feel alone anymore, but something didn't seemed right. Nala got onto her feet and leaned over and planted a small kiss on Simba's cheek. There, now everything was perfect.

* * *

**Wow, okay. First, I am super sorry for the lateness of this update, college must come first. Secondly, I hoped you liked it and I hope to soon be making more Song-fic's for DJ Simba's soon. Lastly, Stay Frosty!**


	5. Message From a Foe

**'Message From a Foe'**

**Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Between the Song-fic's and preparing for final exams in college, I haven't been able to get to update this. Make sure to thank Christ's Disciple and Shen's General for reminding me that people are still looking forward to the updates to this story. ^^ **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The rest of the week went by without much trouble; most of the time spent by Simba and the Five (excluding Tigress and Po) were helping Nala learn the routine and the layout of the Jade Palace. Why not Tigress? She and Po still had another week off, and with Po's constant prodding, they took off on a small trip to spend time with each other; While everyone else started training.

"That's it! You're getting it now!" Simba exclaimed happily. He and Shifu had been working with Nala all mourning to get her stance down and some basic moves.

"Really? I really respect you guys now, this is hard." Nala said as she tried… or rather attempted to punch a training dummy.

"It will get easier as time goes on, Po can somewhat tell you that." Shifu silently chuckled to himself silently. "Nala go ahead and take a break, you have been at it all day, Simba I need to see you outside really quick."

Simba nodded and walked out of the Training Hall with Shifu. "What is it Master?"

"You should know that I will be announcing your status as a Master of the Jade Palace, in a week." Shifu stated.

"As a Master? But I haven't been here any longer than Po was here!" Simba exclaimed.

"Yes… but just like Po, you proved yourself." Shifu bowed and began to walk away from Simba, whose smile was brighter than the sun.

Simba returned to the training hall to be surrounded by the remaining Five and Nala.

"What did he want?" Monkey asked as he hung upside down from the rafters. Crane, Viper, and Mantis all nodded wanting to know also.

"Master Shifu said he was going to announce to the village that I am officially a Master at the Jade Palace." Simba was attacked with 'woots' and 'high-fives'.

"Good-job buddy." Mantis said hopping up onto Simba's shoulder.

"Yeah you totally deserve it." Monkey had dropped done from the roof and gave him a pat on the back.

"If Po and Tigress were here they would be happy for you too." Said Viper.

"I know, thank you guys." Simba bowed to his fellow masters as they went back to their training leaving Simba and Nala together.

"Oh, Simba! It is what you always dreamed of!" Nala jumped into his arms happily hugging him.

"I know! It's awesome isn't it?" Simba said returning the hug when their eyes meet and both felt like they were in a world of their own. Their lips got closer and closer… until Simba realized where they were and this wouldn't be the best time. He shook him self out of the trans causing Nala to snap back to life too.

"Yeah… uh… and there is something else. I want to know if you would like to… maybe hang out and show you around more, after training is over that is.

"I'd love to Simba."

"Great, we just need to finish our training for the day." Simba said to Nala as she walked away but looked over her shoulder and said something that jarred him.

"You know… that sounded a lot like when you asked me on a date years ago."

Simba watched as she walked away with a smile and a blush on her face, yet his face had its own blush. He shook his head, let out a light chuckle and went back to his training equipment.

**WITH PO AND TIGRESS…**

Tigress had refused to take this trip, mostly because she didn't want to be laid off another week and not be able to train. Po wanted to get her mind off the thought off not training, so Po came up with the idea to get away from the Valley of Peace to which Tigress didn't take to very well. Despite the constant refusal from his beloved mate, she finally agreed to go. The little resort next to a hot spring lake in the mountains wasn't very far from the valley just in case they were needed.

Just after arriving, Tigress finally decided that this wasn't such a bad idea. The two spend a day just relaxing in the hot spring all day and eating gourmet food, though Tigress said that Po's noodles were still better. Today they were getting a massage and much to say to either's delight, it was the most comfort they have felt in a long time.

" This is wonderful Po." Tigress said to him on the table next to her.

"Didn't I say you would like it?" said Po as he took her paw in his.

"Shut-up." Tigress said with smile and wrapped her tale around the panda's ankle.

"Can you enlighten me to something?" Po asked.

"About what?" Tigress responded without opening her eyes, it was safe to say she was enjoying the massage.

"About the tail thing."

"Sorry if it bothers you…"

"No, no, it doesn't bother me." Po gave a small chuckle. "I was just curious."

"Actually… I don't know why I do it. I guess it just makes me feel better knowing your close to me. After the incident with Shen… I couldn't lose you again, the whole thing with Khan was just salt in the wound." Po could feel her heart speed up through her paw, he knew the ordeal with Shen had made lose the will to fight and had pushed her close to the end. Po just decide to let it alone and let her do whatever made her feel better.

"It's ok." Po rubbed his thumb over the back of her paw. "I'm here and I'll do my best to never go away."

"Thank you… Po." Tigress felt like the luckiest person in the world, she still couldn't understand how Po picked her. Po could have gotten any girl he wanted, but he chose her.

"Anything for you." Po said as their Massage soon ended.

"So what do you want to do now?" Tigress asked taking his paw and walking out of the room, but the question was answered not by words but with a noise. Po's grumbling stomach.

"I heard their stir-fry is good." Po hinted.

"Fine…" Tigress sighed but with a smile on her face. "Lets go get some food."

**BACK AT THE JADE PALACE, LATER THAT DAY…**

Simba and the rest had just gotten done with training for the day and rest was no option for him. Simba went and washed the sweat off of his body and put on a new change of clothes. He did not want to smell or look bad for tonight, even though Nala wouldn't care. Simba wanted everything to be perfect for tonight; it was like telling your crush you like them for the first time, but in reality Simba had already done that once with Nala. Now it was trying to reunite a relationship that they had had years ago. He was soon ready and went after Nala.

Nala was still in her room waiting for Simba to arrive. Even though she had previously had been in a relationship with him, which had gone hardly anywhere other than a few hugs, the butterflies still floated in her stomach. Never in her life did she think that this moment would ever come, though she had always hoped for it. After her and his separation everything had basically fell apart, which made her world shatter. The only thing she ever hoped for was to see his face, listen to his voice, and feel his fur again… and it had finally happened. Her thoughts were interrupted as the familiar voice she had dreamed about called her name.

"Are you ready?" Simba asked as Nala opened her room door.

"Yup, so where are we going?" Nala questioned.

"You will see." Simba replied as he offered her his arm that she happily took.

Simba took her through the town showing her the main square, every bridge that crossed every river in the valley, the shopping district that was full of people eager to great Nala, the housing district were kids played games in the street, the southern and eastern farmers fields where the Valley's crops are grown, and finally onto a hill over looking the valley with stars starting to poke through the night's orange glow. Arriving at the top of the hill they found a small picnic blanket and some small desserts.

"Oh my… Simba, did you do this?"

"With some help from Viper." Simba smiled and lead her over to the blanket.

"And look at the view… it's so beautiful." Nala was in complete awe.

"I'm glad you like it." Simba sat down next to her and looked up at the stars that were beginning to poke through the dimming light, but he was more focused on the beautiful woman next to him. As the sat there and talked the sun went behind the clouds and the temperature dropped. Simba scooted closer to Nala to keep her warm, which she quietly accepted. They talked about what had happened in their previous lives in the village far from where they were now, but a more specific topic came up about the day Nala had gone missing.

"Nala I never understood that night… why did they take you?"

Nala thought for a moment, it had been so long ago that she couldn't really remember.

"To be honest Simba… I don't really remember. They really only interrogated my mom and dad."

"I remember your parents… your mom was really sweet to me, and your dad was big and scary but a cool dude." Simba was thinking about those days when he looked over thinking he would see Nala in though, but only found her crying.

"Hey… what's wrong?" He put his paw on her shoulder.

"They are dead." Nala slowly spoke, tears coming down her face.

"What?" Simba's eyes showed concern.

"After my dad and mom refused to give up what the bandits had asked for… they killed them right there in front of me…" Nala closed her eyes and tried to keep down her tears, after a moment to recuperate herself, she continued. "They were going to kill me the next day, but that night I was able to escape… I ran and ran all the way back to our village. I was so upset to find out that you had been kicked out of the village and the only thing I wanted was to see you. So I left, there was nothing there for me. I just went on a direction and a name of a place your dad game me." Nala finished and suddenly felt Simba wiping the tears from her face.

"It's ok Nala, I'm here for you." Simba wrapped his arms around her into a comforting hug.

"It's… It's… just been so hard…" Nala whimpered into the hug.

"Shhh… It's all right. I'm here. We don't have to talk about this right now, save it for another day I just don't want you upset."

**(A/N: This is the point where I put the only thing in this story that is left to be put in here. And if you know me well enough you won't be surprised. 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' is owned by Elton John, and if you would like to listen to the music at the same time you are more than welcome to. (START)**

Simba put his paw under her chin causing her eyes to look up at him, when she did their eyes connected. It felt like back in the training room, her deep blue eye trapping him. At this point only one thing floated through his mind: he wanted nothing but to hold her and protect her for the rest of his life.

_There's a calm surrender to the rush of day_

_When the heat of a rolling wind can be turned away_

_An enchanted moment, and it sees me through_

_It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you_

_And can you feel the love tonight_

_It is where we are_

Nala playfully pushed over Simba and ran through a field with a huge smile on her face, Simba got up and ran after her with laugh falling from his lips.

_It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer_

_That we got this far_

They chased each other through the field underneath the beautiful starry sky, and both couldn't contain their laughter.

_And can you feel the love tonight_

_How it's laid to rest_

_It's enough to make kings and vagabonds_

_Believe the very best_

Nala ran until she accidentally tripped over a rock that was poking out of the soft grassy ground. Simba who was right be hind her, had fell over the same rock and fell on top of Nala. They fell into a compromising position, but neither of them cared. Nala reached up and put her paw on his cheek causing Simba to put is paw on top of the one on his cheek and rub his face into her paw._  
_

_There's a time for everyone if they only learn_

_That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn_

_There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors_

_When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours  
_

_And can you feel the love tonight_

_It is where we are_

Their eyes connected yet again but this time there was no breaking them apart, as their faces got closer.

_It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer_

_That we got this far_

And then… their lips connected, neither of them though about backing up. Nala put her arms around Simba's neck and pulled herself into the kiss.

_And can you feel the love tonight_

_How it's laid to rest_

_It's enough to make kings and vagabonds_

_Believe the very best_

Simba put his arms around her waist falling even more into the kiss under the starry night. Both were too into the kiss to recognize the world around them.

_It's enough to make kings and vagabonds_

_Believe the very best_

**WITH PO AND TIGRESS, NIGHT…**

Po awoke with a gasp and sat up straight. Careful not to disturb Tigress who was lying next to him, Po rolled out of bed. The nightmare he had just experienced was pretty bad in his eyes. He had seen Lord Shen return and destroy everything dear to him, including his beloved wife Tigress. Shen had caught Tigress and the Furious Five and killed them all one by one until Tigress was just in front of him. Po tried to save her but as soon as he go to her his world had gone dark… then he woke up.

Po went to the balcony of the room they had rented, he let the cold light breeze blow away most of his worry and enjoyed the night. Back in the bed, Tigress began to realize the heat from her panda was no longer coming and she too began wake up. She expected Po to be there next to her and reached for him, but only grabbed air. Once she fully realized Po was not in bed, but on the balcony, she got up out of bed and walked up behind him.

"Po, is something wrong?"

"No. Just… a bad dream."

"About what?"

"Shen."

"Why would you have a dream about Shen? All that mess happened a long time ago." Tigress walked up next to Po and put a paw on his back trying to comfort him.

"I know… but I can help shake the feeling that he is back… and he is going to hurt the Five and… you." Po let his head fall.

Tigress was again touched at Po's heart, that he was worried that she would get hurt. "Po, Shen is dead, I watched you defeat him and I know you watched that mast fall on him. Besides any threat that shows itself in China will be met and dealt with by the Furious Five and you, the Dragon Warrior, plus we have Simba now."

"Yeah we are a pretty awesome team aren't we?" Po looked at her with a subtle smile.

"Yes we are and nothing is going to happen." Tigress placed a reassuring kiss on his cheek. "Good, feel better? Now come back to bed, it is cold in there and I miss my heating pad." Po just chuckled and followed her in.

**BACK WITH SIMBA AND NALA…**

The kissing had gotten much more intense and both felt that this affection was well over due. As their clueless-ness to rest of the world grew a face in the dark got closer.

"Ahh… what do we have here?" Shen's voice echoed through the open space in the field. Both Simba's and Nala's eyes snapped open and both stood up faster than lightening. Simba took his stance, putting himself between Nala and Shen.

"Looks like someone is a little feisty tonight." Shen said as his eye glared at the two before taking another step forwards.

"That's far enough. Who are you and what do you want?" Simba growled.

"What are you going to do, big dog? Bite me?" mocked Shen with his well-known laugh. "And look at this gem behind you, you have go your self a looker."

"You will not touch her." Simba deepened his growl.

Once again Shen gave a chuckle. "Don't work, mutts aren't really my thing." At that Simba jumped after the bird ready to tear his guts out, but was only met with a wall that slammed him to the ground and Nala was too scared to move. Simba opened his eyes to see the eyes of Khan looking at him, the black panther that Po and them had just recently put in jail was holding him down.

"What the…? Khan how are you out?" Simba asked startled.

"Lets just stick to what we came here for right now." Khan growled.

Shen peered down at Simba who was pinned to the ground. "I am really sad to find out that after all this time with the Furious Five, you know nothing about me… not even my name."

"Shen." Simba nearly barked his name.

"Ahh… so you have herd of me." Shen eyed the German Sheppard.

"Yeah and that you should be dead."

Just then Shen pushed Khan off of Simba and put his clawed foot around Simba's neck and pressed down hard.

"Look what that bloody panda took from me." Shen basically spit out the words. Simba did his best to look at what Shen had meant, then he saw it. Shen's right leg from the knee down wasn't his real leg but a metal counter part. He had lost his leg in the fight with Po.

"What do you want with me?" Simba angrily asked.

"Nothing more than to remember that Hell is only a foot step away." And after that Shen and Khan disappeared into the night. Simba's next priority was to check on Nala who was still frozen in fear.

"Nala! Nala, are you ok?"

"Can we go back now?"

"Yeah, we need to alert Shifu.

Simba took Nala's paw and they ran off in the direction of the Jade Palace. Once there, and nearly out of breath, the couple raced to find the aging red panda meditating in the Hall of Heroes.

"Master Shifu! We have a problem."

"What is going on? Why are you still up?" asked the confused grandmaster.

"It's Shen…" Simba took a deep breath and continued, "He's alive. He had Khan and they pinned me to the ground, and said something along the line of hell being a step away."

Shifu was taken back it was impossible. He himself had witnessed the ship collapsing in on the peacock.

"What?!" Shifu quickly turned on his heels and yelled for Zen. "Go get Po and Tigress, I want them back in the palace by noon tomorrow." Zen nodded and took off.

"What was the reason for his return? I thought this was over with." Shifu looked over to Simba and the petrified Nala.

Simba then spoke up for his take on the whole thing. "It was a message. Shen is coming back for Po."

* * *

**And that is where I will end it! For now… My plans are to do a quick One-Shot for Christmas, get another Chapter of ANFL up, and then get back to my song-fics. Sound Good? Again, I'm very sorry about the lateness of this chapter the finals for my college classes have been a little hectic. Oh, and if you take a few seconds to give a review that would be Awesome! Simba593 over and out.  
**


	6. Nothing Comes Easy

**Chapter 6: 'Nothing Comes Easy'**

**I am sorry about not getting my Christmas special up that I had planned on doing. My uncle passed away the week before Christmas, and coupled with the family getting together, everything in my plans got blown up… So I am just going to continue updating this story and my song-fic story.**

**I wish you all a very happy New Years and I hope you all reach your resolutions like I hope I will. Also has anyone noticed that the 'Kung-Fu Panda' story thread is now ranked 20****th**** on this site? We are moving up in the world!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kung-Fu Panda… This message will self-destruct in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… (Explodes)**

* * *

"Do you mean Shen is alive?" Tigress said with a growl as Po sat, bewildered, at the dinning table in the Jade Palace. Everyone in the room feared for their life as they watched the female tiger get all heated up.

Po and Tigress rushed back as soon as they received word that their master needed them, but neither one realized they would be told that Shen was still alive. Tigress got irate at finding out that he was still alive, for obvious reasons being he almost took Po from her.

"We all saw that cannon drop on his head!" She roared.

"Tigress, it's okay. I know we…" Po started but was interrupted by Tigress.

"Okay? Okay!? How can you be okay with it Po? The man that nearly took your life, almost destroyed mine, and not to mention your dad's and the rest of you family here at the palace. Po… the guy that nearly took all of that away… is back." Tigress finished seemingly begging Po to say that everything wasn't okay.

"Well… maybe he wants to reason with us." Po replied hoping Shifu or one of the five would side with him.

Shifu chuckle lightly from the other side of the table causing eyes to turn to him "There is the Po we all know, always seeing the light side in a dark person."

"I did give him a chance to redeem himself right before he 'died'." Po said. " Maybe he changed his mind."

"Po, dude, he lost his leg." Simba spoke up. "Plus, he had me in a position where he could have easily choked me to death. That peacock is not on a peacekeeping mission."

"Alright so he isn't here to be nice… Po said, but before anyone could say anything else a messenger flew into the hall and gave a scroll to Shifu.

"There has been a prison break at the Ling Prison." Shifu read down the letter a little further. "The prisoner that got away is Khan." Shifu sighed and pinched the space between his eyes.

"Well that explains why he was there with Shen. He helped Khan break out, probably to team up and come after Po." Said Simba.

"Well that letter was really helpful." Mantis said sarcastically and for once everyone agreed with him.

After everyone sat quietly for a few moments, Po finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "What do we do?"

"Right… what are we going to do…" Shifu asked himself quietly. "Alright, it isn't much but I think it will work for now. Simba and Nala, why don't you go to that prison and get any information you can."

"Yes Master." Simba and Nala bowed to their master and walked out the door. Nala seemed excited to go on here first mission.

"What about me master?" Po asked ready for some Kung-Fu action.

"You are staying here." Shifu plainly said.

"But… why?" Po whined.

"Don't question your master, I have my reasons." Said Shifu. "Tigress can I see you?" Tigress nodded in agreement and followed Shifu out of the dinning hall and around the corner.

"I wanted to tell you that I am keeping Po and the Five close to the palace, due to the looming threat of Shen just incase some harm comes to the village."

"I understand."

'Also, you and Po are to stay at the palace. I understand you two are capable on your own and would love to be alone with each other…" Shifu stopped for a moment to shake the thought from his head and Tigress had a hidden blush under her fur, Shifu then continued. "But I feel that you guys staying inside place grounds will much more beneficial."

"I see, I'll let Po know." Tigress agreed.

"Also I realize you two had a half week left for vacation, and I would understand if you guys would like to continue it."

Tigress was really happy for Po urging her into taking a vacation, she had really needed it to clear her mind but now she was read to back in the training room. She was actually going to try her personal training room in her and Po's house, but because her master wanted them close to the palace that wouldn't be possible. Maybe she could get Po to want to train.

"Thank you, Master." Tigress bowed and began walking towards the dinning hall.

"Oh, and have Crane retrieve Mei-Ling, she could be helpful." Shifu finished and headed into the Hall of Heroes.

Tigress returned back to the dinning table, Po was finishing up telling a story to the rest of the five.

"So I went after him to give him his soup, and I did eventually catch up to him and give him is food. And you know what he did with the food?" Po said as he leaned forward on his chair.

"No… What?" Monkey and Mantis asked, obviously into Po's story.

"Gave it to some orphans on the street. Turns out every time he visited dad's shop he was actually buying food for homeless kids."

The five minus tigress 'awed' at the ending of Po's story. Not that she didn't car, actually she was very touched about someone doing this for children that are in the same position that she was in many years ago, she just didn't want to show it.

"Well if you are all done… Crane Master Shifu wants you to retrieve your girlfriend, she could help us with our Shen problem." Tigress bluntly stated and Crane went red in the face.

"She isn't my…" Crane started saying but quickly stopped when Tigress gave him a 'We all know it' look. "Right… I'll head out here in a few minutes." He sheepishly sighed and walked out of the dinning hall and Tigress turned her sights on her mate.

"So Po, Shifu would like us to stay inside palace grounds." Tigress took a seat next to him.

"Until this thing with Shen is over?" Po looked a little uneasy.

"Yeah, and we can continue our vacation but…" Tigress scooted closer to Po and put one of her paws on Po's. Her tail began trace its way up Po's back making him shiver.

Po looked over at her. "But what?"

"I would love to have a spar with you, and maybe some training time." Tigress whispered in Po's ear.

"And w-what's in it f-for me?" stuttered Po.

Tigress' tail found itself moving slowly underneath his chin. " I guess you will just have to find out." She purred and started walking to the door. Po, somewhat hypnotized, followed her out.

Monkey and Mantis sat with their mouths hung opened as if their jaws were on hinges. "What just happened" was all they could say.

**WITH SIMBA AND NALA**

"Yes! My first mission!" Nala said with excitement.

"Yeah I remember mine." Simba was walking next to her.

"Was it hard?" Nala go serious for a moment.

"Nah… just some bandits. Nothing hard." He did his best to look tough.

Nala giggled and pushed him. "Please, knowing you, you probably were scared.

"Well, inside I was, but I couldn't show it so that the innocent villagers who were near by, didn't get scared themselves. I had to show I could handle the situation." Simba grinned and looked over at her.

"I know… you always had a good heart." Nala walked a little closer to him making Simba blush. "At least my strong handsome man will keep me safe."

"You know it." Simba grinned.

After hours and hours of walking they had made it to the prison, where a gaping hole in the side of a large stonewall met them as they came down the trail. Many guards were moving rubble and prisoners. They both noticed one guard directing all the work and decided to go up and talk to him.

"Hurry up! We have to get all the prisoners moved to Chor Gom before nightfall." The rhino was giving orders left and right.

"Yes Sgt. Chou, right away."

"So are you the one in charge?" Simba said.

"Huh? Who…?" The rhino mumble and looked behind him and saw Simba standing there with Nala. "Oh, Master Simba I had no idea you were coming." And he bowed immediately.

"Really? How does word spread so fast in this country?" Simba asked Nala, but she could only shrug and shake her head.

"Maybe Shifu has really good connections?" Nala suggested.

"Who do I owe the honor of having one of the Jade Palace members at my prison?" The Sergeant stood up.

"The one that made that hole in your prison." Said Simba.

"Shen…" The rhino lowed his voice to a near growl.

"And… one prisoner is gone. Khan."

"Yeah, so now we are relocating everybody in that prison wing until repairs can be made." He pointed at the walking prisoners.

"I see. Is everyone ok?"

"No, two of my best men didn't survive the blast."

"So sorry to hear that." Nala said sincerely.

"Do you happen to know how big Shen's army was that night? Simba was looking at the hole in the wall.

"Not very much, a hundred soldiers maybe, but that had that weapon of his he created." The Sergeant paused for a moment remembering something that one of his soldiers had said. "Oh, and supposedly some of Shen's troops are still around…" an arrow, which had slammed into his left shoulder, cut off the Sergeant. Some of the wolves had stayed behind and had been lurking around the prison, as if they were waiting for Simba and Nala to be there.

"Nala get down!" Simba yelled and shoved her to the ground behind a wall just as another arrow lodged itself in the ground right they were standing. Thinking fast, Simba grabbed a shield that was lying on the ground next to them. "Follow me." He said to Nala.

Simba held up the shield in front of him and Nala crouched behind him and they slowly inched themselves forward towards the archer. Every now and then an arrow would clang of the shield or land next to them. Once they were close enough to the shooter Simba stood up and threw the shield as hard as he could at the archer's head, knocking him out.

"Well that was…" but that was all he could say when three more wolves jumped out of the tree line and he noticed a worried look on Nala's face.

"Nala just remember your training and you will be fine." He encouraged her.

"I know, I got this." Nala reassured him.

Simba struck first at one of the wolves and he was nearly able to dodge it but the punch connected in the wolf's stomach. The wolf reacted with a kick aimed at Simba's leg, attempting to injure him. Simba was able to block it with his paw and the wolf's buddy then came into help, now Simba had to keep an eye two of them at the same time. The wolf on his right struck first but was easily blocked and Simba noticed another fist coming in his direction and blocked it too. At this point Simba now had an arm of each wolf in each of his paws and all Simba did was grin. Simba pressed down on of the wolf's arms down making him cringe in pain then let go of the other wolf's arm. With a spin kick to the back of the head of the wolf on his right, dropping them both. Simba watched as the conscious wolf struggle to get out from underneath his unconscious comrade.

Nala was defending against the wolf she was fighting the best she could. She blocked every punch that was thrown at her, but she was quickly losing steam and Simba saw this and decided to intervene.

"Hey mutt! Over here." Simba shouted.

Looking away from Nala for a moment the wolf realized his mistake. As he turned back to face Nala he was conscious long enough to see a fist hit his chin. Nala's punch laid the wolf out.

"Thanks." Nala managed to say between heavy breaths.

"No problem, I saw he was giving you some trouble and…" Simba saw the wolf that had been trapped under his buddy, was now running towards them with a knife in hand. Simba reacted quickly by pushing Nala out of the way of the knife just in time as the wolf tackled him to the ground. The wolf was on top of Simba snarling and growling, scratching at him, and attempting to stab him with the knife.

Nala looked up from the ground and saw Simba holding the arm of the wolf that held the knife, and it was inching closer to his neck. "Oh no." Nala said under her breath and began to look around for a weapon to help him, and then she saw the bow from the archer laying on the ground. Nala got up and ran for it, she picked it up and turned on her heels, aimed, and fired.

Simba noticed the wolf wasn't struggling anymore and jerked to the side. Then he noticed the arrow in the wolf's side. Looking at the direction from where the arrow was fired from, he saw his love holding the bow.

"Good shot." He mumbled and pushed the body off him so he could get to his feet.

"I still got it." Nala looked at the bow.

"Yeah, after all those years you still know how to shoot a bow and arrow." Simba smiled a little. " I think your better with that then you will be with Kung-Fu, no offense."

"None taken, actually I think your right."

"Well when we get back, I'm talking to Shifu about your training." Simba looked at the bodies on the ground. "Let's clean this up first before head back."

**UNKNOWN LOCATION…**

"I have already tried that!" Khan roared.

"Yes, but now we have an army." Shen retorted. "A thousand strong!" He yelled into the courtyard receiving a roar of applause from the wolf troops.

"And just how do you plan to get your hands on Tigress? She if the most volatile thing I've fought against." Khan began to argue again. "Plus, when I had the Dragon Warrior in my hands and she fought harder than he did!"

"The Dragon Warrior won't be able to stand when he sees his love crumpled on the ground." Shen spit. "I don't wish to piss off the Furious Five over a petty tomb raid! I want to end them, make them no more, make them feel the pain I felt. Get it?" Shen was now in the face of Khan."

"When the Five and the Dragon Warrior fall, so does China."

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**Uh, Oh… Shen and Khan are planning something and Nala has found… rather remembered an old talent. How will Tigress's and Po's spar go over? And Crane is on his way to visit and bring back Mei-Ling. Whew… I better get started on the next chapter.**

**Also, If you see any mistakes in the chapters, pleas don't be afraid to PM about them. Sometimes I do miss some mistakes.  
**

**Sorry for this late and sort of short update. I'm hoping to have another chapter of the DJ Simba593's Collection up by the end of the week, but life hasn't been kind to me lately sooo… I never know. Thanks for being patient though. Simba593 Over and Out.**


	7. Tai-What?

**Chapter 7: Tai-What?**

**A big thanks to everyone who read my Valentine's Day one shot! I just felt doing a little something for the 'day of love'. If you would like to read it you can find it under my stories. And I watched the LOA episode 'Bride of Po' and it surprisingly had some TiPo in it, and I usually don't care for LOA because they make Po act all stupid.**

**I will update the Song-fic's soon I have just been busy with college paper, and I have one of those old crazy English teachers so… yeah. That pretty much explains it.**

**Disclaimer: No… for the last time No. I don't own Kung Fu Panda.**

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"Ouch." Po slammed into the extra training dummies. "Well it looks like I won't win that way… but I'm still going to hand your butt to you on a silver platter, kitty." He stood up taking his stance again.

"Fat chance!" Tigress playfully growled as she took her stance again.

"Still want to keep your bet on Po monkey?" Mantis looked over at the primate who knew Po was losing ground.

"Yes." Monkey said with little confidence not even looking at Mantis.

"Still going to lose then." Mantis said confidently.

"It isn't over till the fat panda cooks." Was the only thing Monkey could say.

Po was able to continue to dodge Tigress' onslaught of wicked attacks. One moment she was aiming punches at his face then the next second she sent kick after kick at his feet. Po was only able to block the attacks and because she was attacking so furiously that Po was unable to send an attack of his own. Po had to do something fast, he was quickly running out of steam and he could only wonder if he had done something to deserve this. As Po thought of all the things he had done the past couple days he saw something that solved the reason for Tigress' heated battle style. A smile. She was having fun; it then occurred to Po that they haven't had any kind of training or spar since their wedding. He was going to let her win now, because who knew what she would do if lost now. She would think she was weekend from the wedding and get mad at him, or worse train and exhaust herself. Po wasn't going to risk any of that.

The next punch Tigress threw Po planned his defeat. 'Accidentally' stepping into her punch he allowed her to connect a very powerful hit to his stomach knocking him of balance. But when Po had stepped into her punch he had stepped in front of her foot and when Po fell unbalanced he was falling on top of her. Po realized this and knew it would be a disaster if it happened, so thinking quickly he turned his body so that she would fall on him in a 'pinning' fashion. Po felt the thud of the hard wooden closing his eyes anticipating the hard hit. When he opened them h found Tigress standing over her prize triumphantly.

"So you win again." Po said accepting the paw offered to him by the striped female standing over. "Good thing you aren't rusty from our vacation."

"Yeah, I happy to be back in the Training Hall. I missed it." Tigress said as she helped Po off the ground.

"I'm sure the Training Hall missed you too." Po said after he was standing up again.

"Hey Po can I tell you something?" Tigress asked as she moved closer to Po's face

"What?" Po asked back waiting for a kiss to come.

Tigress' lips where inches from Po when she whispered, "Don't ever just let me win again." And pushed him back down, Po landed on his rear end and sat up watching his mate walk away with a smile on her face. Mantis and Monkey came up behind him.

"I can't ever win with her." Po chuckled, looking at his friends.

"Then maybe Monkey here can learn to stop betting on you." Mantis laughed, walking away with an armful of freshly baked cookies.

"Why did you have to marry a Kung-Fu Master?" Monkey asked with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Cause she's awesome." Po said causing both to laugh as they walked out of the training hall.

**WITH SIMBA, NALA, AND SHIFU…**

"I think Shen only has a force of a hundred and that cannon, but there is no telling if he created some more." Simba said as he told Shifu of what he had heard and seen.

"Good work you two." Shifu said with a bow.

"Not a problem. And uh… Master? Can I talk to you about Nala's training?

"What about it?"

"Well you see today when we were at the prison, we ran into an ambush. Nothing bad happened but an old skill of hers resurface while we were fighting. She is a really talented archer." Simba said.

"She knows how to use a bow and arrow?" Shifu asked slightly amused.

"Yeah I taught her before she went missing, and she really improved it over time. Which is really impressive, because the women in our village weren't allowed to fight or learn how to wield a weapon." Said Simba.

"You two didn't follow the rules of your village much did you?" Shifu let a small smile cross his face.

"We were teenagers, we never followed the rules." Simba responded with a hearty chuckle.

"We all once were." The small panda gave a small laugh then gestured to the door. "I tell you what, if she can hit two of the three dummies I set up in the courtyard she can continue her training with the bow, but if she doesn't she has to keep training Kung-Fu like you."

Simba's white, toothy grin shone through out the room. "She can do it."

Simba retrieved Nala and told her that Shifu wanted to see her shoot the bow and arrow. Soon the Furious Five, Po, and Mei-Ling were all out in the courtyard to watch Nala present her skills. Simba walked out with her to the spot she would shoot from.

"Just shoot like you did back there and you will be fine." Simba said and planted a reassuring kiss on her lips to witch she gratefully returned.

"Nala, you may begin when you are ready." Shifu said as he joined his students watching on. Simba only had a smile on his face.

"Yes, Master." Nala gave a respectful bow and turned to the table that held the bow and four arrows. She had been given an extra arrow for a practice shot.

Nala took hold of her first arrow, her practice shot, and set it on her paw that held the bow. She lined up the string and drew it back, it was safe to say her palms were sweaty and some nervous tension set in. Nala fired her first shot only to miss the target completely. She then set up for her next shot and again missed. Nala looked to the Furious Five, but only saw Simba making a gesture to breathe. She nodded and proceeded to pick up the third arrow. As she drew back on it Simba's words from long ago began to rattle through her mind. _'Okay, before you draw the arrow back take a breathe. Hold it, and then pull back on the arrow. Line up your shot then-' _she let the arrow go and it slammed into the dummy knocking it to the ground.

A smile grew across both Simba's and Nala's face. And this time around, with the fourth arrow, Nala didn't hesitate; she picked it up, pulled, and let go. The release was smooth and flowed perfectly allowing the arrow to make another clean it. Nala's smile grew once again as she bowed to her Master.

"Very well, looks as if the Jade Palace now has its very own archer. Good Job." Shifu bowed acknowledging Nala's excellent skills.

"Yes! Awesome job!" Simba said as her ran up to her and pulled her into a bear hug.

"I just did what I remember you telling me." Nala began to show a small blush as Simba held her.

"Wow, that was great!" Po ran up with the rest of the group behind him.

"Yeah! Where did you learn to use the bow and arrow?" Tigress asked from behind the group.

"He taught me." Nala simply stated and gestured over to Simba, who was beaming. He was obviously proud of her excelling in something he taught her years ago.

" Why don't you use the bow then?" Crane asked.

"I prefer fighting with my paws. Feels much more powerful to me." Simba replied receiving a nod form most of the furious five.

The rest of the week went by as normal as it could have gone; training, eating Po's food, joking around, and some bonding time with the palace's couples that could be scene wandering around the palace during the evening hours. One night, after everyone had gone to bed a messenger came to Simba's room.

"Master Simba?"

"Come in." Simba said as he stood up from some stretches.

"This came for you." He said holding out a letter.

"It can't wait till the morning?"

"Sorry, he said it was urgent." He said as he handed the letter to Simba and walked away. Simba looked at the letter for a second before opening it, it had no name on it.

"Master Simba of the Jade Palace, you have greatly misunderstood your enemy's power meet me on the outskirts of the valley. We need to talk."

And that is all it said. Simba flipped the page over as if hoping to find more on the other side, but to no avail. He figured it could be a trap, but with Shen looming so close they needed all the information they could get. Simba grabbed his vest and headed out the door.

Simba walked out a quietly as he could, walking past everyone else's rooms. He looked into Tigress's old room where Po and her had been staying, he saw Tigress wrapped in Po's arms. Po was softly snoring with his arms wrapped around Tigress' waist and Tigress could be heard purring with her head tucked under Po's. She had a smile on her face.

As Simba continued to walk and one door down he heard two others that were still up. Crane and Mei-Ling were laughing and whispering sweet nothings to each other, Simba smiled at the two's actions towards each other. They had been getting closer and closer, and Simba had been in betting pools with Mantis and Monkey on when they would get married.

Another door down and closer to the door was Nala's room; her door was also slightly cracked. Simba couldn't help himself on checking on his girlfriend. She was asleep, her chest slowly rising and falling. He noticed that her blanket as slide off her body onto the floor, so he went over and picked it up. Nala's body instantly felt the blanket and she curled into it, her face accepting a growing smile. Before he left Simba gave her a small kiss on her cheek and silently closing the door behind him.

Simba had no idea if the meeting was for a legitimate reason or just an ambush. As he walked he thought of reasons why maybe it wouldn't be an ambush, or rather why he hoped it wouldn't be an ambush. The moon was hi in the sky by the time he made it to the meeting point; he had hardly had time to sit down before a hooded figure approached him. Simba hesitated a little but the figure showed no attempt to do harm, in fact he stayed about ten foot away almost like he was unsure about Simba.

"Are you the own that sent me the letter?" Simba was the first to speak.

"Yes." Was all the figure could reply with.

"What is so important that we had to meet right away?"

"Shen's army is a lot bigger than you perceive. More than ten times bigger than you think."

"How do you know, and why should I trust you?" Simba was on edge, could he believe this?

"Because I used to be in his army, I saw it."

"Used to? Why do you want to help the Valley of Peace then?"

After a long pause, the hooded figure spoke. "If I tell you, you must promise to tell no one up at the palace… at least not yet."

Simba was a bit skeptical but he soon nodded his head. "I promise."

"A warrior's promise." The figure extends his paw to him.

"Fine, a warrior's promise." Simba shook his paw.

"I want to protect the valley, because…" he reached up and pulled the hood off his head reveling his face to Simba. "Because I grew up here."

Simba looked through the dark night's air to reveal a face he thought he wouldn't ever see for himself. "Tai-Lung?"

Tigress' eyes snapped open to realize she was still in the palace in Po's loving embrace, she tried to fall back to sleep but the dry feeling in her throat prevented her from doing just that. She wiggled herself the best she could out of Po's grip, trying not to wake him up. As she stood from the bed and stretched, but Po felt her heat had left from his body and silently stirred in his sleep.

"Sumtin da madder, Ti-igress?" Po said, his speech slurred as he attempted to open his eyes.

"No, Po. It's okay I'm just thirsty. Go back to back to bed." Tigress whispered and kissed him. Po mumbled something about food and fell back to sleep. Tigress smiled at her mate and left the room.

In the kitchen Tigress got a cup of water and found a bowl of Po's bean buns still sitting on the table, she grabbed one of those and sat down. She took a sip of the water, cooling and quenching her dry throat. She ate the bean bun and finished off the rest of the water quickly. As she walked back to the room she heard a noise like someone was running through the palace. As she rounded the corner she ran face first into Simba, and Tigress was quick enough to avoid a collision.

"Simba? What are you doing? You nearly ran me over!" Tigress said with a small growl.

"Tigress, we have a problem." Simba said with a worried look.

**SOME WHERE IN THE HILLS…**

"Yes Lord Shen?"

"Tell Shin to sent a squad to the Valley of Peace. Do as much damage as possible."

"Yes, sir." The wolf guard ran off with his new orders.

"Why are we doing this Shen? We need to be attacking them at full force!" Khan jumped up from his seat.

"Relax you foolish panther, it is just a run to test their strength." Shen hissed.

"Who are you calling foolish?" Khan walked towards Shen, but was stopped by blade only inches from his chest.

"I bailed you out for one reason and one reason only… to help me take over the Jade Palace, nothing more. Don't test me." Shen said with an unwavering voice. Khan only glared at the peacock and growled.

"Go make sure your troops are prepared. You are the first to move in." Shen carefully watched the panther storm out of the hut. Shen then turned his attention to the map in front of him.

It was a map of the Valley of Peace that had some circles drawn around the hills that circled the valley. There were also straight lines that looked like lines layered in a triangular stack, these were Shen's troops and the circles are the cannons. The map showed his battle plans.

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**Well. I bet no one expected Tai-Lung to be back and Shen is having some panther issues. His battle plans are ready, but are the warriors at the Jade Palace? Simba593 over and out.**


	8. Incoming!

**Chapter 8: Incoming!**

**Haha! Wouldn't you know it? First day back and a dog chews up my power cord to my laptop… go figure… So sorry about the wait, I actually wanted to post this a couple of days ago, but I couldn't get to it.**

**Expect an update to 'Twist and Turns of Fate' within 2-3 days.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung-Fu Panda, buuuuutttt…. I do claim my OC's.**

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Simba and Tigress had woken everyone up urgently after Simba had returned back from his meeting with Tai-Lung. Shifu was a little irritated with the whole thing and Po wasn't happy about being woken up from his deep sleep. After everyone was up and sitting at the dining table, they began to talk.

"What gives?" Mantis grumbled rubbing is eyes.

"Yeah I was having an awesome dream!" Mei-Ling giggled as she looked at Crane.

"I thought when you said you were coming back bed it was to sleep, not to wake me up." Po could hardly stay awake as Tigress tried keeping him up.

"Oh, would you guys pay attention, Simba found out something very important." The irritated feline said and took her spot next to Po.

"What is it?" Viper piped up from one side of the room.

"We have a major problem." Simba stated as he and Shifu walked into the kitchen, Shifu didn't like being woke up in the middle of the night but when he had heard what Simba had found out sleep was the last thing on his mind.

"Well, don't keep it from us." Nala said as Simba sat beside her.

"Shen has more men." Simba divulged. "Much more than Nala and I previously scouted."

"How did you get this information?" Tigress questioned, but suddenly felt light headed and to counter act the feeling she rested her head on Po's shoulder. Po figured it was the news that they had just heard.

"I can't say, he wishes to remain anonymous… for now." Simba replied.

"Then how do we know if it's good info?" Crane asked a bit skeptical.

"Do you have anything better to go on?" Simba eyed Crane, but Crane remained silent.

"We have to take the information to heart." Shifu stood up from the group. "A person who threatens revenge, and harbors a massive army, will not hesitate to show their power. We can only assume that he will attack us."

"What do we do about it?" Po calmly asked, softly rubbing Tigress' arm as she was still leaning on him.

"Remember when we tried evacuating the valley when Tai-Lung came back?" Shifu asked remembering that fateful day. All the Five and Po nodded remembering it all, but Simba got a little nervous at the name Tai-Lung.

"Well, that's what we are going to do." Shifu said as he called for a messenger. "We are going to send them to a neighboring town. I am friends with the leader in the Sha Valley and we previously agreed that if something happened we help each other out."

"So we'll evacuate the village to another village?" Monkey asked just to make sure he was on the right track.

"Correct, you may go back to sleep. We have lots of work in the morning." Shifu said dismissing his students.

"Yes Master." They all bowed and returned to their rooms.

**HOURS LATER WITH SHEN…**

"What do you mean they never made it to the valley?" Shen hissed at Khan.

"They said some ghost defeated them." Khan hissed back.

"A ghost?" Shen let out an evil chuckle. "Or a figment of their imagination?"

"Some… of the men said it was Tai-Lung." Khan said knowing Shen wouldn't like to hear this bit of information.

"Impossible, I dispatched him months ago…" Shen didn't take the words with a serious heart.

"You dropped him off the edge of the ridge, into a deep river." Khan stated bluntly.

"No one could have survived that fall." Shen whipped around. "And you know it."

"We are talking about the guys that survived complete obliteration of the Wuxi Finger Hold. His Chi was supposed to have spread across the Valley sending little bits of him everywhere." Khan gestured with his fingers, showing how small the bits were. "But, he, survived. No one will ever know, not even Tai-Lung."

"It doesn't matter; we have more pressing issues to attend to." Shen said dismissing Khans statement.

"More pressing? What if that is Tai-Lung? And what if he aides the Dragon Warrior?" Khan added.

"He wouldn't help them, they out casted him, they think they destroyed him. He won't go back.

"You better hope your right." Khan sighed.

"I am right. Are you ready?" Shen picked up his sword.

"I have been ready since the day they sent me to jail."

"Right then…" Shen said and raise his sword high above his head in front of a mass of wolves hungry for war. "March for the Valley of Peace." The roar of approval echoed throughout the hills.

"Send word to the cannon teams, fire at high noon." Shen smiled deviously as his army marched on.

**BACK AT THE VALLEY OF PEACE…**

"Tigress, why don't you take Nala and Mei Ling to the west side of the valley and clear it out? Simba, Crane, and I will take the east side leaving the south for Monkey and Mantis." Po said as the group traveled down the stairs before the Jade Palace.

"What about Viper? Where is she?" Monkey spoke up from the front of the group.

"She stayed behind to help Master Shifu to move some Kung Fu artifacts to a vault to keep them safe." Po replied.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Simba agreed with the panda as he followed him down the steps.

"Are you okay with it Tigress?" Po looked to his right where his mate was walking next to him.

"I really don't like letting you out of my sight, but if splitting up means we get the job done then so be it." Tigress said in her usual serious tone, but deep inside she wasn't happy to let him go off without her.

"Don't worry about it too much I got Simba and Crane to watch my back." Po gave her his signature grin, making her ease up inside, but not much.

"Po?" Crane asked from above and waited to continue with his question until Po made eye-contact with him. "Do you really think Shen will attack the valley?"

"I don't know Crane… but we have to prepare for the worst." Po said earning an approving nod from the group."

"Alright let's do this." Simba said as they reached the bottom.

"Okay, let's all meet back here once we are all done so we know everyone is accounted for." Po said.

"What if something does go wrong?" Nala spoke up from her spot beside Simba.

"Then we meet in a clearing in the forest northeast of the palace. Shifu and Viper know these spots too, so they'll meet us there if something goes haywire." Po replied.

"We don't have all day so let's get a move on." Mei Ling said before planting a kiss on Crane. "Please be safe, we don't know what could be lurking in these woods."

"Don't worry Mei I'll be just fine." Crane said rubbing his head against Mei Ling's slightly before taking flight again.

"Simba, if anything goes wrong, promise me one thing." Nala said stepping closer to Simba.

"And what would that be?" Simba asked wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You will come back to me." Nala said kissing him deeply before reluctantly stepping away.

"Of course Nala." Simba said also not wanting to leave her side.

"We'll see each other in a short time, hun." Po pulled Tigress into a bear hug to which she accepted. Shortly after they became a couple she had grown use to Po's lovable bear hugs.

"Just be safe and get these people to safety." Tigress said while using her right paw to hold his right cheek. "And return to me Dragon Warrior, unscathed."

"You hardly ever use that name, you must be really serious about the returning part." Po said as he cupped her face and passionately kissing her.

"Come on…" Mantis whined. "Do we have to make such a big deal over this? It won't even take that long to evacuate the villagers.

"Hush." Mei Ling said and flicked Mantis off Monkey's head.

**ON THE EAST SIDE…**

"Sooo… how are you and Mei Ling?" Po looked up at Crane as he flew above them. Simba was right next to Po.

"Great, actually…" Crane got really quiet and landed in front of them causing them to stop walking. "If you guys can keep a secret, I'll tell you some news."

"What kind of news?" Simba asked the avian.

"I know it might seem soon, but we trained together for a long time and the past few weeks as only confirmed my feelings…" As he continued.

"You don't mean-" Po started then was cut off by Crane.

"Yup, I'm going to propose to Mei Ling." Crane said with a blush on his face.

"Ha! That's great Crane!" Po said as he patted Crane's back.

"No way! Congrats man!" Simba said getting excited for his friend.

"Yes way! It's going to happen as soon as I find the right ring for her. I just couldn't hold it in anymore, I just had to tell someone." Crane smiled acting like he could finally breathe again.

"Well if you are still in the market for a ring, the place where I got Tigress' engagement ring has really great deals." Po said as him and Crane talked about rings.

But as the two were talking Simba was looking at the ring he had made a while back. It was solid gold with the stone he found in the Lion's Eye tomb many weeks ago. He was deciding on what to do. He really wanted to give it to Nala and asked her to be his just as he wanted to do so many years ago, but Simba was afraid that he couldn't protect her. He couldn't go through losing her again, it would kill him.

"Simba?" Po said loudly shaking Simba from his thoughts.

"Huh? Y-yeah? What do you need?" Simba tried acting like nothing happened and slipping the ring back into his pocket.

"Nothing just thought we lost you for a second there." Crane chuckled.

"Where to next?" Simba asked hoping to change the subject.

"To the shopping district just north of the house we just cleared." Po said a little confused as they turned the corner.

**WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY…**

"Always remember to keep alert on missions; anything can go wrong at anytime." Tigress said walking next to Nala.

" So… like Murphy's Law?" Nala asked as she adjusted the bow and arrows on her back.

"I suppose." Tigress replied.

"I think you need to ease up Master Tigress." Mei Ling said dropping down in front of them.

"And just where have you been?" Tigress asked her with a stern voice.

"Clearing the western farmers." The Chinese mountain cat replied.

"Hmp… Just help Nala with the manufacturing district will I go on to the west housing district." Tigress scoffed and walked off.

"What's up with her?" Nala asked once Tigress was out of sight.

"Oh… that's right… you weren't here for that." Mei Ling slightly whispered.

"What happened?" Nala asked kindly wanting to know what Mei Ling was talking about.

It was several months ago when a peacock named Lord Shen attack the musician's village…" Mei Ling started and Nala listened intently at Po and the Five's story with Shen. Mei told their story as they cleared all the houses and got the villagers out and on the road. "And, apparently, when Po was hit by the cannon Tigress was so devastated she was incapable to fight."

"Wow" Nala said in disbelief.

"She also pushed him out of the way of a cannon ball." Mei Ling said earning an astonished look from the female German Sheppard.

"No wonder she isn't thrilled right now, she wants to be with Po."

"Well, Crane told me she was like that even before P, but he did help improve her emotions and broke down that barrier. And yeah, she isn't thrilled about being where she can't protect him, but she trusts him." Mei Ling finished slightly looking to the left where Nala was walking.

"I like her way better when Po is around."

"Honey, Po does that to everyone. It's like he gives off this friendly aura. Enough of those too… How are you and Simba? Better yet, how are you doing being away from you home and all."

"We are good, it's back to the way we had it back when we were sixteen. I love the way he holds and kisses me… I really missed all of that. But as from being away from home… this is home to me… I have Simba. I don't have anything to back to now." Nala said trying to think happy thoughts about Simba.

"What do you mean?" Mei Ling asked confused.

"That's another story for another time." Nala said as she looked up from the ground to see Tigress walking back towards them. "Hey, there's Tigress."

"Okay, we are all clear. Let's head back to the stairs." Tigress said then suddenly stopped, her blood turning cold. Her ears stood on end and so did her fur. "Do you two here that?"

Nala's ears and tail stood straight up. "I do." She quietly muttered.

"Me three…" Mei Ling said, her ears standing at attention too.

"No…" Tigress shook her head and seconds later an explosion light up the east side of town.

**EAST SIDE OF THE VALLEY…**

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Simba yelled trying to cover his ears. The blast of the explosion had knock Po, Crane, and him to the ground.

Po was trying to stand back up and his ears were ringing so bad that the outside world seemed quiet. "C-CANNON" Po yelled.

Crane looked around as more explosions were raining down around them. There was so much going on around them that it seemed like buildings were randomly combusting into flames and rubble. Crane then noticed a house with a woman scream out the top floor.

"Simba!" Crane yelled trying to get his attention.

"What?" Simba yelled back.

"We have a civilian in the building!" Crane said pointing Simba's eyes in the right direction. "Go get Po and meet me over there!"

Simba ran for Po who was using a building to support his weight. Then another cannon ball landed several feet away from Simba, throwing him into a wall and covering him with rubble and dirt. Simba pushed himself up and made another dash for Po.

"Po!" We need your help with a trapped woman!" Simba yelled as another cannon ball blew up behind them.

"WHAT?" Po screamed at Simba.

"Civilian trapped!" the German Sheppard yelled back.

"W-WHAT?" Po hollered again. Simba then realized the small amount of blood trickling down from his ears. An explosion must have gone off right next to him. Po was temporarily deaf. Simba pointed at his own eyes and then pointed at the house with the trapped woman, Po understood and nodded his head as they took off for the house.

Simba wasted no time running into the house and up the next flight of stairs all the while explosions were riddling the house sending splinters and stones everywhere. One went off in the wall where Simba was climbing the stairs causing him to tumble head over heels down the stairs. Simba struggled to his feet, jumping over the hole the bomb had made in the stairs and continued to the room that held the woman. Simba hollered out the window at Crane who came straight up to the window and helped Simba get the screaming and flailing woman out the window. Crane dropped her to Po who held her on his shoulder and took off to the secondary meeting point. Po's main thought was of getting her to safety while Crane's was to get Simba out of the house.

"Come on Simba! Your turn!" Crane yelled over the raining bombs.

Just as Simba was about to jump out the window a cannon ball hit the roof of the house throwing Simba back into the house. The building creaked and groaned, and then it collapsed.

Crane sat wide-eyed on the ground looking at the house that just collapsed onto Simba. There was no movement and flames consumed what was left of the house, all around him buildings burned as the explosions continued to rock him.

"There's no way…" Crane whispered under his breath as he took off for the second meeting area leaving the burning buildings in the dust.

* * *

**Oh-no… what's going to happen next? Simba593 over and out.**


End file.
